मेरी क़लम की सियाही काग़ज़ को मंज़ूर नहीं

मेरे ख़ुदा की खुदाई बंदे को मंज़ूर नहीं

मेरी रगों का धुआँ मेरे जिगर को मंज़ूर नहीं

मेरे होने का ग़ुमा मेरे शहर को मंज़ूर नहीं

अमावस की रात चाँद को मंज़ूर नहीं

मेरे दिल की बात मेरे ज़हन को मंज़ूर नहीं

आग को राख़ बन कर बुझ जाना मंज़ूर नहीं

मुझे खाक़ बन कर चले जाना मंज़ूर नहीं

To arise out of dark depths

In search of day’s light

To push until a path forms

And fight the good fight

To rush and meet the air with joy

Then caress every stone on the way

You, a fountainhead of soothing waters

Walk all longing through freedom’s doorway

This is no gentle rain…..

Slowly falling

Asking permission

Calm collected

A saint’s kind vision

~

This is a downpour…..

A pelting of stones

Announced by thunder

Chased by lightening

A punishing blunder

~

This meeting with You

No, not a gentle rain at all

Hammered to the ground

I fly high, even as I fall

If the promise is the heavens

I will gladly die today

If the promise is a meeting with You

I will forego the heavens

If the promise is quiet

I will gladly give up all my words

If the promise is stillness

I will even forego all my currents

But you see, there are no promises

And nothing is ever for granted

Then leave me be, sinful and singing

For I wish to stay alive today, in love

In light

The mountains becomes your image

In love

Our journeys become a pilgrimage

We sit together

My grief and I

Stare into the flames

Of how and why

Stoke the fire

With a stick of could haves

Fan it some more

With all the should haves

–

We sit together

My maker and I

My thirst unquenched

My soul is dry

He mends my cracks

With love mixed in gold

I am drunk again

And again I am bold

–

We sit together

The moon and I

The silence comes

And sits nearby

The rain is gentle

And the night is long

The dance of a sigh

To the eternal song

The last rays of sun

Kiss the gentle waves good night

The last tears of love

Make the silence feel all right

If silence is whole

And complete in itself

Why do I hear it

Like the fires of hell

If silence is still

And forever unchanging

Why does it feel

Like the galaxies racing

If silence is noble

Like the wisdom of age

Why does it fool me

By showing its rage

If silence is quiet

Like the midnight sea

Why does it speak

So loudly to me

–

Maybe silence is lost

Just as I am, in myself

It eludes, not just me

But its very own self

Every single time the night falls

A sun rises to show me the light

Every time the heart grows weary

A friend comes by and makes it right

–

Every time when I wander astray

Someone brings me back with a whirl

Every time I descend into darkness

I seem to come back with another pearl

–

In the ups and downs of this ride

Each crest is laden with such pleasure

But the real quest lies in the abyss

Where every time I find a new treasure

The road to paradise

Must pass through the abyss

I dance with abandon

Meet the colors I must kiss

I whirl with the colors

I am all that there is

And if I get lost in the noise

The silence holds a promise