Ayaz Rasool Nazki, a multilingual poet, a man of all seasons with diverse interests, has a distinctive niche in the literary world, voicing a sensibility that is at once postmodern and traditional. A poet in Urdu and Kashmiri with many publications, he broke into English with a translation of Mir Ghulam Rasool Nazki’s Sufi quatrains. His English poems ‘songs of light’ was published to critical acclaim. His poems have appeared in reputed anthologies. His English novel Satisar-the valley of demons has been described as a remarkable work of historical fiction. Tree without a nest is his latest collection of poems.
The Tree
Decay began years ago
First, leaves withered
Dried and fell off
Then the branches
Twirled and broke away
One by one
The nests disappeared
Then only a passing bird
Would rest for a while
on the stump of a branch
And then fly away
Leaving the forlorn tree
As lonely as before
The tree stands in silence
Waiting for the gush of wind
It's moment of deliverance!
***
New year
Where time stands still
The water in the pond
Makes no waves
The leaves on the tree branches do not move
As no wind ever blows
The only worth mentioning achievement
Is a peaceful burial!
Graves without tombstones
Are the only trophies
Adorning the shelf in the drawing rooms
And all the epitaphs, composed through the year
Are pasted on the sky for safe keeping
Children running after the kites over the treacherous terrain
Never return to their mothers
***
Spring
before the almond blossoms
ride the chariot of spring breeze
before the tresses on willow bark
grow into a cascading fall
before the autumn buried under frost
germinates into green
before the nightingale breaks into her spring song
before the bee takes to its wings inside the woods
before the brook unfolds its serpentine locks
and begins its journey afresh on sand
I have to wipe the blood stains
from my window panes
No comments :
Post a Comment
We welcome your comments related to the article and the topic being discussed. We expect the comments to be courteous, and respectful of the author and other commenters. Setu reserves the right to moderate, remove or reject comments that contain foul language, insult, hatred, personal information or indicate bad intention. The views expressed in comments reflect those of the commenter, not the official views of the Setu editorial board. рдк्рд░рдХाрд╢िрдд рд░рдЪрдиा рд╕े рд╕рдо्рдмंрдзिрдд рд╢ाрд▓ीрди рд╕рдо्рд╡ाрдж рдХा рд╕्рд╡ाрдЧрдд рд╣ै।