Ayaz Rasool Nazki: Poetry (Voices Within 2021)

 Multilingual poet, Ayaz Rasool Nazki has diverse interests in literature and arts. Ayaz has carved out his own distinctive niche in the literary world, voicing a sensibility that is at once postmodern and traditional. His dominant passion is creatively engaging with identity, memory and aspirations in South Asia’s most sensitive and turbulent zone – Kashmir. A recognized poet in Urdu and Kashmiri, he broke into English with a translation of his father Mir Ghulam Rasool Nazki’s Sufi quatrains. His own collection of English poems ‘songs of light’ was published to critical acclaim. His English novel Satisar-the valley of demons appeared recently.

1

I pulled the desert over my eyes
and sank deep into the sand
blood of tulips ran over
making furrows in the sand
Martians were here all night
singing paeans to their high priest
they asked me for my insurance
they asked me for my blood group
they asked me for power of my glasses

alas! all were missing
they tossed me into no land
there sea had no water
there sky had no air
yet I smelt of jasmine
yet I smelt of fresh spring
narcissus under twilight
and the nightingale set free


2

Falling leaves
tell me
winter is around the corner
meadows no longer
blush at the amorous breeze
last rose is a vestige

after winter
swallow and nightingale
will make new nests
on new branches
on chinar and poplar trees
I wonder
where shall I be?


3

Mountains are under snow
wolves roam around
in search of prey
Pray! stay indoors
save your lambs
spring is far away

wait
when bud sprouts
when glacier melts
when river roars
when daffodil opens misty eyes

I shall meet you
under the apple tree
share secrets
of lover’s heart


4

Full moon disappears
behind the hill
twinkling stars
fall as autumn leaves
from an old chinar
by the river

they had taken their wows
under its gaze
and departed
each on its course
in the nearby woods
time stands still
on villager’s faces
every crease remains fresh
every wound remains green


5
Norah

A whiff of fragrance
issues from rose
a drop of dew
adorns a leaf
a ray of light
touches my heart
despondent times
despair and gloom
melt away

you have come
when going is tough
come, usher in
a new dawn

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Life, Cognition and Creativity 2021 :: Setu, January 2021