Where Did You See Her?
Have you ever ventured
Beyond the dreams
Where the sulking night
Angry with her lovers, the moon and the stars
Dabs her bare body with ashes
And dances around a bonfire?
Have you ever peeped behind eyelashes
Into tired blue eyes
Where a whole world of woe
Swims in spaces unfathomed?
Have you ever spent a day
Under the greenwood trees
Erect sentry-like on each side of the road
Where the sun struggles
To find its way?
Have you ever asked
A wayfarer, a stranger
The directions to the house
Of the one
Whose waning footprints
The winds kiss
Wandering about from town to town?
(Translated from the original Urdu by Satyapal Anand)
poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
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Living Trophies
On their way to school
Carrying dreams of future
In their book bags
Kids grow into old man
Their prattle
Like tiny butterflies
Continue to live.
Of dreams and their interpretations
Of brightly lit hands
And happy lines of fate
Folks seperate from us
Their memories
Continue to live.
In the eve-time loneliness
In the head-splitting deep gaze
Like withering dreams
Scenes get blurred
Glued to the path - eyes
Continue to live.
In the empty spaces of life
In the courtyards of
Waning sunlight
Holding medals of valour
And defeats
Mothers of slain war heroes
Continue to live.
Poets
Writing on scraps die
Their poems
Continue to live.
(Translated from the original Urdu by Satyapal Anand)
poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
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Continuity
Winds dance
Black clouds gather
Trace songs of blue rains
On wooden tablets of the golden sun
In azure limitlessness of the sky.
Birds remember the earth
Through signs
Seas come to an end
On shores
Somewhere whole isles
Sink in tear drops.
Hark, O children
For stories get interrupted
If you're inattentive.
(Translated from the original Urdu by Dr.Satyapal Anand and from English to Spanish by Dr. Teresinka Pereira)
poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
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Snapshot
Night hidden behind that hillock
Hasn't peeped out so far
The ocean of darkness
Hasn't become turbulent till now
As yet black snakes
Hanging from arms of the clock
Stare at us with red ambers of their eyes
As yet with bated breath
The wolf of time
Waits behind blood-strewn sand dunes
For ripped-open body of the sun.
Surrounded by shadows - green and fresh
The shimmering cold water in the blue lake
Has as yet not become
Acquainted with
Swelling waves of strangeness
In our eyes.
Welcome...... as it is......
The frozen caravan of silent moments
And the unacquainted water
Stay.
Pay heed to me, O stranger,
My co- traveller
Ere the silent ticking of the clock
Turns into an explosion
And declares the sun's demise,
Shall we
Preserve through the camera's eye
This meeting of ours
On the blind screen of feelings......
With the waning, blood-red
Picture of receding evening's myriad scenes?
And thus fill the empty cup
Of our desires with innocent happiness?
(1975, Translated by Dr. Satyapal Anand)
poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
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A Change Of Scene Is But A Moment's Respite
In the sunbathed expanse of the sky
Birds were on the wing
Now lost in the quaint net
Of limetless space
In sky-lakes, azure blue,
They can't be seen.
Clouds kiss the hillock's lips
Then dance in ecstasy
Move around from valley to valley
Suddenly slipping from steep precipices
A comely face like a silken handkerchief
Gets soaked somewhere
In the rain of tears.
My dreams take a plunge
From the open window
And land
In the hands of the kids playing
In the eyes of the balloon seller
In the heart of the Gypsy girl
Hawking her wares - earthen toys.
The wind blows them away in a moment.
A change of scene is but a moment's respite
To look long and longingly
With a deep gaze of adoration
Is a palpable loss.
Whole life spans are spent
In slow motion.
Poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir,1980.
Translated from the original Urdu into English by Satyapal Anand.
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poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
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See, If You Can......
See, if you can really see
The wilderness of history
The paths leading to Macedonia are dust-engulfed
' Alexanders of Fate' have vanished
The reverbrating footfalls
Around the nail of Konya
Are now reduced to lifeless echoes of a timeless moment
No dervish has stamina left in his spinning heel
Brightly lit up streaks have dimmed
Serial dances have all been obliterated
Eagles swoop down over Baghdad
The sharp edge of Damascus weapons are now blunt
See, if you can really see
The depths of your dreams
Have growing forests of poison-besmeared eyes
In place of a throbbing heart
Striped snakes of the New World
Now live in the ancient edifices
resting on pillars of Corinth
And the ancient iron boxes of secret treasures
kept in the magic cave
Have no red coins left
Only dollars!
See, if you can.........
Poem by: Naseer Ahmed Nasir,1990.
Translated from the original Urdu into English by Dr. Satyapal Anand.
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poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
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Charioteer Has Gone To Sleep
The charioteer has gone to sleep
Ovecome by fatigue of wearisome ways
Unaware of where he is
All that's evident
Is his continuous journey
On unmarked, worn-out way
In his wooden wagonette
From the beginning of time
To the end of time
When the wagonette
Creaks even with a small bump
Wrapped up in millions of folds
Of ragged shabbiness
Each living being is startled
The charioteer dreams
He has lost himself in strange worlds
Comfortable climes
Riding a golden chariot
And holding the princess's hand
The charioteer has gone to sleep
(Translated from the original Urdu by Satyapal Anand)
poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
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Don't Ever Come, O December
Look December
Don't ever come now!
Look, December
Deserts unnumbered have expanded in me.
All my rivers
Are silted with the sands of loneliness.
Now only I
And the weight of my loneliness
Remain together.
Look, December
In your frozen nights
In your sleepless nights
Who will knit dreamlike sweaters?
Who will pick snowflakes falling in the soul?
Look, December
Don't ever come now!
And even if you do come
Don't go to the abodes of the sun
Wearing the snows of your woes.
Don't ever go to my loved ones!
Look, December
Don't ever come now!
(Translated from the original Urdu into English by Dr. Satyapal Anand)
poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
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Had Ocean Been My Confidant
Had ocean been my confidant
I'd have given it
All of my truths for safekeeping
Tales i would have written
Of seashells picking girls on beaches
Whose golden bodies were
Like isles of dreamland
But whose fates were
Like lines drawn in sand.
Had ocean been my confidant
I'd have given it
All my loneliness
I'd have walked with the wind
Clasping its finger in my fist
On distant paths
From whence no one comes back!
Had ocean been my confidant
I'd have given it all my depths
Stepping into its limitless
Blue bosom
I'd have made earth into my bark
Sky into my sails
I'd have made the woeful moment
Of separation
A connecting link between you and me.
Had ocean been my confidant!
(Translated from the original Urdu by Satyapal Anand)
poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
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Windows
Windows open vistas for us
Windows - of hearts, of minds or of eyes
Windows - which might open outward
Or inward
They bring the light on the other end to this end.
Windows converse
They open the alphabetical locks of our lips
When night weaves nets of darkness on windows
Life-spans speak out in whispers from abysses of pain
Windows then perforce remain silent
Suffer days of tongue-tied laws
Nights of oppression
And epochs of tyranny
Windows are self same stories of dreams
Of centuries
Mute testimony of chasms
Court yards and ruined houses
Evidence of rusted eons rattling with exhaustion
in tyrant time's primordium continuity
Windows have the heart of a woman
They open their body's wings of each clime
With a little waft of wind
With fragrance, sunlight, rain or moon beams.
They blow away paper-light images
And waste away life in uncharted desires.
When butterflies fly in front of windows
Eyes glued to window panes become tearful
With noontide memories.
Evenings look forward to a wayfarer passing by
When they're covered with climbers
holding forth red and white flowers
They fill closed fists with the touch of fire-flies.
Windows often insist on being kept open
They're surprised to watch cloud, birds
And the blue sky's expanse
If they're kept shut
They're afraid of the life breath of
Walls and rooms getting strangulated.
They're afraid of dwellers forsaking their houses
They also feel life's desertion
They also feel despondent
Windows are human beings!
Poem by: Naseer Ahmed Nasir
Translated from the original Urdu into English by Satyapal Anand.
Copyrights (C) All rights reserved.
poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
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Blue Stranger
Hello blue stranger sittin' there all alone
With your glass of sorrow you seem so far from home
Maybe you will let me buy a round or two
I'm a blue stranger too
Hello blue stranger I haven't seen your around
But I know every reason for leavin' town
We might know each other before the night is through
I'm a blue stranger too
And strangers fall in love everyday
All lovers were strangers once
Just like us a little unsure of their ways
Well hello blue stranger will you take a chance
I might be mistaken but I see meaning in your glance
Maybe this could be the start of something new
I'm a blue stranger too
And strangers fall in love all the time
All lovers were strangers once
Just like us a little unsure of sharin' eyes
Hello blue stranger sittin' there all alone
With you glass of sorrow you seem so far away from home
Maybe you will let me buy you a round or two
I'm a blue stranger too
Hello blue stranger, Hello blue stranger
Hello blue stranger
song performed by by Keith Urban
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lullaby For Lost Generations
All rivers of taste have dried up
Only sands boil in pans
Tyranny of migration has struck the towns
Birds have forsaken their nests.
Judgements descend from heavens
So it is said in books, testaments
Secrets of hearts are culpable offences
It's crime to feed at mother's breast.
''He had gone to buy a feeder
Before curfew time;
Hasn't come back.''
Kids, go to sleep
Stories, written on waters
Are narrated by winds to sails
Of sinking ships, of men in submarines
The oceans in their eyes were dry at parting
Yes, the sands of journey
Had marked all pores of the body
'' Keep Quiet ''.
Whole life-spans pass awake from sleep
A single frozen moment is difficult to pass.
The sun at the roof's height comes and goes
Come, give a call to those
Who had heard Israfael's bugle
And gone to eternal sleep on the battle front.
Their children remain awake.
(Translated from original Urdu by Dr. Satyapal Anand)
poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
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A Dream I Have To Write
A dream
I have to write
On the wooden slate
Of a child
Playing traunt from the school.
A moon
I have to write
On the forehead
Of a woman
Swarthier than evetide darkness.
A song
I have to write
On the frozen lips
of the wind
Passing through
A bamboo forest.
A name
I have to write
On an unmarked
Grave stone
In a memorial cemetry.
(Translated from Urdu to English by Dr. Satyapal Anand and from English to Spanish by Dr. Teresinka Pereira)
poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
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Crazy Mary
she lived on a curve in the road, in an old tar-paper shack
On the south side of the town, on the wrong side of the tracks
Sometimes on the way into town we'd say:
"mama, can we stop and give her a ride?"
Sometimes we did but her hands flew from her side
Wild eyed, crazy mary
Down along the road, past the parson's place
The old blue car we used to race
Little country store with a sign tacked to the side
Said "no l-o-i-t-e-r-i-n-g allowed"
Underneath that sign always congregated quite a crowd
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
One night thunder cracked mercy backed outside her windowsill
Dreamed i was flying high above the trees, over the hills
Looked down into the house of mary
Bare bulb on, newspaper-covered walls, and mary rising up above it all
Next morning on the way into town
Saw some skid marks, and followed them around
Over the curve,through the fields, into the house of mary
That what you fear the most, could meet you halfway
That what you fear the most, could meet you halfway
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around
song performed by by Pearl Jam
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In A Town This Size
In a town this size, theres no place to hide
Everywhere you go you meet someone you know
You cant steal a kiss in a place like this
How the rumors do fly in a town this size
In a smokey bar in the backseat of your car
In your own little house someones sure to find you out
What you do and what you think
What you eat and what you drink
If you smoke a cigarette theyll be talkin about your breath
In a town this size, theres no place to hide
Everywhere you go you meet someone you know
You cant steal a kiss in a place like this
How the rumors do fly in a town this size
Oh, I had a fight with my girlfriend last night
Before the moon went down it was all over town
How he made me cry how I said goodbye
If its true or not doesnt seem to count alot
In a town this size, theres no place to hide
Everywhere you go you meet someone you know
You cant steal a kiss in a place like this
How the rumors do fly in a town this size
In a town this size in a town this size
song performed by by John Prine
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In A Town This Size (feat. Dolores Keane)
In a town this size, there's no place to hide
Everywhere you go you meet someone you know
You can't steal a kiss in a place like this
How the rumors do fly in a town this size
In a smokey bar in the backseat of your car
In your own little house someone's sure to find you out
What you do and what you think
What you eat and what you drink
If you smoke a cigarette they'll be talkin' about your breath
In a town this size, there's no place to hide
Everywhere you go you meet someone you know
You can't steal a kiss in a place like this
How the rumors do fly in a town this size
Oh, I had a fight with my girlfriend last night
Before the moon went down it was all over town
How he made me cry how I said goodbye
If it's true or not doesn't seem to count alot
In a town this size, there's no place to hide
Everywhere you go you meet someone you know
You can't steal a kiss in a place like this
How the rumors do fly in a town this size
In a town this size In a town this size
song performed by by John Prine
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Dreams Are Faceless
Dreams are but faceless
Eyes alone are a visible feature
And eyes indeed
Have a quaint crowd
Of faces;
Dreams lose their way in it.
Repentant sorrow
Of compromises
Renders dry and seer
Inner seasons of good cheer
Extinguishes flames of
Soulful sentiments
Covers with an icesheet
Of sad forebodings
All scenes of love - and loveliness!
Winds' reflections sink
In shallow waters.
It's soul's sickness
That draws
Lines of unfamiliarity
On bodies' wooden slates
(Destroying their intimacy)
Painting lips with a smile
Doesn't sweeten the taste of sorrows.
How long will you dread the sand
sitting on the shore
Of affliction?
A fistful of sand
Doesn't do either
Neither does it flatten up the ocean
Nor soak away
The glittering waters of the eyes!
Do you know?
It's wise not to wake up
While sleepwalking!
Poem by: Naseer Ahmed Nasir,1992.
Translated from Urdu into English by Dr. Satyapal Anand.
Copyrights (C) All rights reserved.
poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
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Dreams Lost In Water
No distance ever separates
Dreams and desires
No mirror ever dissolves
Reflection and water
In one's eye
What graph would you make
Of lines of thought?
The triangle of pain
Is without any angle
Countless races
Have dreams alike
But sleep and night-watch
Are never the same!
Names are forgotten
Codes alone come to mind
In nuclear setups
Dreams of radiant generations
Are smitten
By atomic explosions
Cities sink
Nuclei dissipate
Orbits dwindle
What remains
Are terra and sol
In the dance of death
God is a casualty.
A moment of brightness
In a light year
Breaking into smithereens
In a million eons
An accident - yes
But not an event
History is continuity
Broken once
Telescopic eyes, tired out, give up
Their distance watching
Lost planets
Bygone epoches
Have no interposition.
Who will look for
Flowers
In spring-fresh hands
Of tiny tots?
Who will see
Dreams
In eyes-yours and mine
In centuries to be?
No one is sure
Of things lost in water!
Poem by: Naseer Ahmed Nasir,1980.
Translated from Urdu to English by Dr. Satyapal Anand and from English to Spanish by Dr. Teresinka Pereira.
Copyrights (C) All rights reserved
poem by Naseer Ahmed Nasir
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The Town
You said: “I’ll go to another land, to other seaways wandering,
Some other town may yet be found better than this,
Where every effort of mine is a writ of guiltiness;
And my heart seems buried like a corpse. My mind---
How long is it to be in this decay confined?
Wherever I turn, wherever I lift my eyes,
The blackening ruins of my life arise,
here I have spent so many years spoiling and swquandering.”
“You’ll find no other places, no new seas in all your wanderings,
The town will follow you about. You’ll range
In the same streets. In the same suburbs change
From youth to age; inn this same house grow white.
No hope of another town; this is where you’ll always alight.
There is no road to another, there is no ship
To take you there. As here in this small strip
You spoiled your life, the whole earth felt your squanderings.”
poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
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Wish I Could Fly
Halfway through the night,
I wake up in a dream
Echoes in my head,
Make every whisper turn into a scream
I dreamed I could fly, out in the blue
Over this town, following you
Over the trees, subways and cars
Id try to find out who you really are
In the middle of the night,
Cool sweatin in my bed
Got the windows open wide,
Thinkin about all the things you said
I wish I could fly, out in the blue
Over this town, following you
Id fly over rooftops, the great boulevards
To try to find out who you really are
Who you really are
Who you really are
I wish I could fly now
I wish I could fly now
I wish I could fly, around and around
Over this town, the dirt on the ground
Id follow your course of doors left ajar
To try to find out who you really are
To try to find out who you really are
I wish I could fly
song performed by by Roxette
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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When The Port Town Was Trying Her Necklace
When the port town was trying her necklace
at the night-mirror of the sea,
and her earrings by consent of the moon,
I missed you!
Searching for small-breathing eyes
that seem so far but so bright,
shaded by thin, up-straight,
hawk-winged eyelashes
on a wall grey and tarnished,
remind me of my old age.
I turned my face to the sea
and saw the town’s lit necklace
praying you in my eyes
“never are the image
of the soul’s pure memories
inevitable when least wanted,
or attractive when anticipated,
AMEN! ”
Though the crystal memories
were never acquainted with
the pride of the town; nevertheless
surrenders the town its grace of poise,
laughing my ever new trials
eternally for an instant
in the timid low tides, it trembles
in a whispering shyness.
Farewell, farewell, adieu
I lost my self amongst you.
…………………………………………………..
Massawa,1996
Translated from Amaharic by Samuel Oqube
poem by Ermias Ekube
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