Sunday, October 26, 2014

तासीर

दिख न पाऊँ मैं किसी को पर दिखे मुझे हर तनवीर
ऐ ख़ुदा मुख़तसर ही सही देदे मुझे ऐसी तासीर

Tanveer = aura
mukhtasar = brief
taaseer = special ability

Shopkeeper

Shopkeeper dozes
boredom dripping from
open mouth.

Auditorium

Just fifty seats full
the auditorium
freezes.

दिलासा

दिलासा दिया जो क़ुरबत का खेला किए हम उसी से
बदासा मिला जो ग़म बस झेला किए हम ख़ुशी से
सुना सा लगा वह नग़मा, अल्फ़ाज़ के नीचे जज़बात थे
ज़रा सा गिला फ़ुरक़त का देखा किए हम दूरी से

Madras Cafe

Madras Cafe
furniture food service
all sombre

Picnic

Lovely weather
home to hospital
a picnic.

Chest hair

Never trust a man
who has no chest hair
nor any minor vice.

Wars

There would be no wars
if everyone drank
said the Bulgarian doctor.

Drowned

My best friends
drowned in alcohol -
I scratch my neck.

Dropouts

Dropouts buzz around me
- I scratch every wound.

Snakepit

Teachers stopped bitching
as I entered the snakepit.

Horns

Professional colleagues saw
horns on my head
learning I was a poet.

Centipedes on a mission

Like half-ripened fruits with toothpicks
For legs and arms, faces masked with
colourful dupattas, they tumble on,
centipedes on a mission.
Perhaps life a compact crossover
between foggy dreams and concrete
Reality drives them... they trudge on.
The lukewarm tea nourishes me
As halfheartedly as these notes.
Looking away from the mess upclose
at the kaleidoscopic canvas of life
is a tasteless meal that must sustain me.

Crickets

Students at dinner
noisier than
lovelorn crickets.

Python

Rain-disrupted traffic
lazy python crawls.

Virginity

Ageing bitch
humps another virginity
pushing confusion.

Fan

Hospital's patient fan
has no tongue –
I sense stories.

Abacus

Pigeons
across cables –
a sleepy abacus

Ganesha

Wide ears huge belly
legendary digester
unruffled by 140 dB.

Potted plant

Potted plant ages
pollen-starved,
showing wrinkled emotions.