Category: lines

mirrors do not help
anymore.
i have forgotten
who to look for.

khadmon pe khadam lo, meri jaan,
aisa na ho ke koi raasta na ho.

kisi haath ko thaam lo, meri jaan,
aisa na ho ke koi raazdaan na ho.

it’s a beautiful, cruel world.
a work of art painted in the dark.
then a light shines;
it was a mirror all along.

i just discovered that you are not the author
of the love poem you sent me.

the diagnosis is in,
it was death by routine.

reach
           hold
drop
           spill.

try
           harder
and          harder
           until

you
           notice
your          patterns
of         irregularities
           repeat.

chup chaap bhaithe raho kehte ho,
wahaan likha hai khade hona haraam hai.

kyun mila te ho paani mein zeher
aur pesh karte ho ke jaam hai?

kyun banke qatil-e-ishq, kehte ho
mebhoob ki bahoon mein araam hai?

kyun manate ho azaadi ka aaj jasn,
jab asliat mein aaj tanhaai ki shaam hai?

kyun rastoon pe todh ke patthar, phir kehte ho
yeh zakhm meri nakaami ka anjaam hai?

kyun mujhe chodte nahin, zaalim,
teri duniya mein mera kya kaam hai?

and i fear that this moment
too quickly withers and dies.
and i wonder if you see in mine
what i see in your eyes.

while you do mean what you say,
what you say doesn’t mean anything.

i, too, saw dreams.
but then i did,
and my doing did more than my dreams ever did.