Samandar kinare…

Kho gayee hun fir vaheen
Us ek lehar ke sath
Samandar kinare… guzare kuch lamh
Tanhaiyon se jab ki thi… jeebhar ke bat…

Har musafir jo mila is safar mein
Khud meri manzil ban chala
Fir jo chootey… ye hath mere
Mujhse muh fer ke… anjaan ban chala…

Samandar ko sunati rahun apni kahani
Ret ke gharondey, dard ki zubaani
Har tamanna ko aaj bhi mein ne doobte dekha
Mujhse yun dur hui… sapno ki seemarekha…

Akele is ghar mein, fir se dam ghutne laga
Ashkon ke samandar ko fir se mehsoos kiya
Dil mein fugan si hai…ehsas ye daba daba
Zindagi kab kis mod pe bani saazish…ye kisko pata…

Khayr koi ho na ho sath mere
Ye samandar mera…ispe hai saanjh dhala
Meri tarah feylakar daman
Ret se milkar…ye bhi to rota chala…

The Rascal Lover

The moon has left ye mistress fair
Now onwards into darkness stare
For chance will have ye loved tonight
Let stars and majesties affright
Fair Luna’s blessings seek ye not
In lovers murmurs speak ye not
Come hither darling, fear ye not
Twin light vessels drench ye not
In your tears doth my world drown
And I am but a sailor spare
That fords the oceans of your grace
Shew me temptress spirited face
Let lovers into each reside
Let tiresome celestial bodies bide
Their time in cavernous space aloft
Come sweet, let me kiss ye soft
Soft soft softer still
Until I have had my fill
And into nothingness do perish
Thus hath love’s ardour flourish’d ♥
Handsome stars canst outshine skies
For I shall triumph in burning sighs
Then wilt the Moon look back at ye
For nature’s marvel thou shalt be
Whenst my loving marks do graze your skin
And you my fairest, grow warm within
Blushes that like roses bloom
Into mine own arms ye swoon
Lovers then united as one
Blot out stars, the Moon, the Sun!

(Samragi 2012 ~ written for Suud, upon her words – “The moon has turned it’s back on me.
Her silver beams grace my backyard, Ignoring me,completely”)

Homage

For Rumi ♥ Homage ♥

In deepest darkest nights of long
When silken tresses traced my face
I held you hard against my being
When worlds tore asunder, meanings swept
Our souls infused as one remained
You left, the broken chalice spill’d
I flow in droplets, perchance in tears
Melancholia now reigns supreme
That life once ours, now a deathlike mask
I wear, and swear by all its grace
I am become a pantomime
Grief hurls its colours, and I am bathed
And yet through hurlyburly worlds
I rush not, I walk past in cadence soft
For in every footfall, every pause, every step
I am still drawn to ye my Love
In sylvan harmonies I dwell
In tempered vines, dappled sea-shells
In fragrant breeze, and roses musk
In dewdrops, that my eyes hath touch’d
You and me, live on forever
We leave this sphere, we walk elsewhere
Melancholia doth not us conquer
For in hidden veils of emotions rare
Have I lost you, have I found you,
Have I sought and commanded you
Have I become you, you my greatest joy
My darling, Love loses not
It grows more patient, more potent
More wrecksome devious with Time
And it is Time that stands still
While you within me – move as does the spirit
And bring me life, through the
Cutting sharb stabs of meanings lost
You keep me safe, and I soldier on ♥

(Samragi 2012 ~ written in one breath, for my wonderful friend, a small gift for a great soul)

Small victories

As I set off hesitant trembling
Every small step brings a gift
Sharp stabbing pain
My frame battles, mind meanders
In dark sinful hours
These steps would be traced
In tear stain’d verses
That was yesterday my love
Today I reign resplendant glorious
My footfalls tread not paper
Tis a mountain I climb
Fain I wish it so to be
Though it is but a modest hill
A mountain I conquer within
How beautiful spreads the valley
Soft clouds low hanging
T’were best I pluck them not
For Cupid weary eyed rests
In these dappled shadowy plains
Acres of emeralds swirling green
How like a dream unfolds
My vision enchants beckoning
I forget small sharp biting pains
Forge ahead unsteady steps
There in the slanting sunrays
I see old wounds rested
A warrior slain (weakened, bloody yet survives)
That which I become, Behold!
Here I howl at winds, slapped by life
I count today a triumph – my summit reached
To think not – of you – for one whole day
Is small victory indeed!

(Samragi 2012 ~ Inspired by the views of Mam Tor, Derbyshire, May 2012)

~Jab tum aur hum~

Jab tum aur hum
Milte the chupke chupke
Phool aur patte tharrate
Gulshan kuch aise khil uthti meri
Yon lage ki pehli bar
Savan mujhe kar chali madhosh
Tum jo ate the kareeb mere
Har ek pal banke sitara
Roshan kar deta mera aasmaan
Kitni der tak fir mujhe
Koi dard o takleef na chuu pati
Tum rehte paas mere, (chale jane ke bad)
Tum rehte paas paas (banke meri saansein)
Vo mohabbat ke pal the kuch ajab
Hum khud se dur, rahe sirf tumhare paas
Vaqt badalta raha, din badalte rahe
Kya pata kab, vo taar toot sa gaya
Jise kabhi tumne joda tha apne dil se
Ab jo hum mil na pate
Intezar ki kadvahat mar dale mujhe
Raah dekhun har lamh… (tum na ate)
Vohi sitare ab chubhe in aankhon ko
Jo kabhi banke mohabbat
Meri duniya ko roshan kar chale the
Mein tab bhi tanha thi
Aj bhi tanha hun magar
Tumko sochkar mein bebas
Aur bhi tanha ho jati hun
Kash vo din fir se laut aate
Jab tum aur hum mila karte the

(kya pata ae mehboob mere – tujhko kis ki nazar lag gayi – jo mein raah taak taak kar bebas hui, tu ek bar kyu na lauta – har mausam mein tujhi se milne ki tamanna rakhe ye dil kambakht – patjhad mein bhi savan ke khwab dekhta raha ye dil badbakht – tu to nahee par teri yaadon ke bal zinda raha ye dil aafat – mein mar chuki hu – dard -e judaai ne loota hai mere chayn o sukoon ko kuch is tarah – tu jo nahee aya aj ki shab mein jalti rahi khud shama ki tarah – shayad tujhe nahee mujhi ko lagi hai baddua badnazar – tu palkon tale jannat ko thaam le khwabon mein, aur mein mar bhi jaun to janaze ko rukhsat na koi kar sake – ae barbad mohabbat mere, tujhe mera salaam)

Uski aadat hai mujhko rulaane ki – jo mein ro padun to khud hi poochey ‘bolo majra kya hai?’

Tere sannaton mein goonjti aahat hun mein
Tere armano ko sehlaati chaahat hun mein
Tujhe jo na mile ek pal chayn vo aafat hun mein
Teri majboori, tera guroor, teri mohabbat hun mein ♥~

Adrift

Broken, torn apart,
Crumb from a whole
Leaving the mainland behind
I drift, a tiny island
Barren lifeless empty
There behind me
My chequered past
Milestones (gathering dust)
All that I was, All of me
Lies firmly rooted in the safe familiar
While I (vagabond wastrel) cast off
Never have I been free
Of expectations haunting me
Breaking away physically
Still draws me back in
Like a refrain that dies not
My past life in waves returns
Bringing back memories tumultuous
Why do waters stagnate?
Relations fester, friends abandon?
Sweet love sour to sickening hate?
In one blasted moment, devastation
Ah the complete loss of faith…
How quickly do dreams dissolve
How urgent then the need to move on
The answers, I know not
The questions forever drift by
Does salvation lie in counting Time?
That which has passed – was once raw
That which is raw – shall perchance fade
I move along tiny currents of Hope
And thus each paltry droplet
Made an ocean vast…
Richer in tears, I shall remain

Salgirah mubarak ho

Ek gehri neeli tanhai
Mujhe aaj fir se lapete chali
Jidhar dekhun
Tum aur mein nazar aate vaheen
Shayad ek sal pehle ki tanhai
Bhi kuch aisi thi ~ Suhaani
Jab mujhe maut se churaya tumne
Aaj fir se vo kohar chaya dinbhar
Fir aa gayi aakhri ghadi
Jab dard ki tees na lage
Jab boond boond lahu behta rahe
Aur zindagi jaise ruk gayi ho kaheen
Kis taraf badhun kuch hosla nahee
Apne aap mein sama jaun (to behtar hai)
Ya khud ko tere yaadon mein dafna doon
Ya fir vohi us mod par khud ko chorr aun
Jahan se mera koi ata pata nahee
Mohabbat kya hai, zindagi kya hai
In baton ko kabhi humne jaana nahee
Apne aap ko bhulave mein sajaye rakhna
Iske siva koi kaam nahee
Likhna bhi bekar lage ab to
Mere apne koi alfaaz nahee
Ek gehri neeli tanhai ke siva
Tujhe dene ko koi saugat nahee

Raji’s Microwave ~ A Lament for the Departed

Twas a busy March morning
When the dings came to a halt
The plate stopped spinning
Twas the Microwave at fault
No more the electric fiend stirs
No more endless reheated tea
No melting butters, or heating soups
No baked potatoes in a jiffy
Alas alas ah cruel Fate
The micro hath departed
To a heaven soft and fluffy
We now try and implore the God of Puns
To come and rescue his maiden fair
To write a lament on electronic equipment
Is beyond her skillset, though she dares
Anything for her dearest Raji
Anything to loosen the pursestrings
We don’t ask for loose change
Just a high end model – the latest hoopla!
Then do we return to the kitchen victorious
To taste melted cheese – ah glorious glorious!
Victory to the age of convenience cooking
And all shall be well in the world of musk cats
Oh dear I meant to say the kingdom of musk rats
No no no, I meant the dominion of Muscat!
You see, I lost concentration in the end
My microwave just ding’d, and I must attend!!!

(Written for the plight of Raji Sumanth as her trusty old microwave gave up the good fight today)

~Submerged~

There is a point of no return
Day meets Dusk
Life and Love end
I may be half wading in darkest waters
(Half submerged) blinded alone
But your feet begin to walk away
I will watch your steps leave
The essence of me in you departs
There is a finite second
When music turns to noise
When sweetest taste cloys
When affection blundering fails
Patience ends, tears swell
I may have been more dead than alive
At that pause in Time
Before we met
I may be frozen to the spot (again)
Today when I bleed
Tis not blood, but Love itself
That flows in drops, staining Life
There are many who wonder
What does cause a fracture
How does a star hurtle down
How does an inferno burn itself out
Life and Love – perhaps they meet
For a brief moment or two
For they cannot walk together (forever)
One of us chooses to walk away
The other frozen submerged in dark waters

(Samragi 2012)

She

She walks a path forlorn
On a stormy sultry night
Are those raindrops kissing her eyes
Or just fierce love?
She keeps a stony silence
Wedded to her grief
Insanity beckons
And yet she remains adrift
Often her restless fingers
Trace my name upon walls crumbling
In agonised sighs she breathes my name
To the constellations she murmurs
Words of inconsolable grief
And yet if you were to chance upon her
In the glowing African dawn
You would see a woman chiselled to perfection
Beauty grace and laughter abundant
A wife, a mother, a friend you find
Where are the wisps of the demon lover?
Where is the frenzied passion buried?
How can one be frozen fiery
How can one life be split into chasms
These are the many secrets she hoards
Behind those wild innocent eyes
There lives a woman of many parts

(Samragi 2012 – Written for Melani Strachan)