Gulzar sahab... ek kalam jiski siyaahi se meri ungliyan raushan ho jaati hain

"Ravivaar ki dheemi nabz pe baitha
Maano marzi se sar bandha marz
Aisa koi shayar mil jae agar
Jo neendon ko sona sikha de
Dil mei ghar kar jae iss qadar
ke khushi se rona sikha de"

I Will Sleep At Dawn

Into the night her sleep wandered,

In forests made of ink and paper, 

She held on tight to the light that shimmered, 

From the bed side of her lamp,

And sleep was her favourite friend, 

For it understood the silence, 

The silence that her yellowed books 

Embroidered on her soul,

 She urged the moon to shine forever, 

The dirty lanes of the city became idyllic in the street light, 

The moon sighed for he had to bid good bye 

For his beautiful borrowed light, 

Had a debt to repay to the sun, 

And so she waited an endless day 

For her beloved moon to return, 

And sleep oh lovely sleep was forever her only friend 

For sleep oh lovely sleep didn't come 

Till the moon's shift would end 

And she would keep her dog eared book aside 

Only for a moment 

to catch the amber sun 

bleeding into the sky

Mohar

Vo zamaana aur tha

Jab dil ki galiyan maidaan hua karti thi

Vo zamaana aur tha

Jab dil ki galiyan maidaan hua karti thi

Ab toh surat-e-haal ye hai ki

Daraaron tak mei malba quaid hai

Daakhila toh muft hai magar iss

Tehes riyaasat ki murammat ke

Tamaam akhrajaat tumhare hain

Bhardo jo haami lakeeron ki daleelon ki

Bhardo jo haami lakeeron ki daleelon ki

Toh tamaam kaghazaat tumhare hain

Mai ye nahi kehti ki tabaah sheher mudh ke saans nahi bharte

Na ye munaasib kehna ki bevafa baaz dafa wafa nahi karte

Haan magar seelan se namm eeton se

Mehel banaane ke khwab tumhare hain

Zang quaid taaron se taaj bunn pao agar

Zang quaid taaron se taaj bunn pao agar

Toh baanh pe ghaat diye baaz toh kya

Moondi ankhon mei chipe surkhaab tumhare hain

Image courtesy: GypsyH , Deviant art

Pregnant

She that is hidden in the folds of the crow feet
Slowly creaking from the corners of my eyes

She lodged in the pit of my stomach probably since before time
She, the one asleep since eternity bidding time

She that stirs whenever a moment passes by

A moment that encases the whiff of her kind
Of the magical dream catchers and the ocean
A moment that brings back the wind in my hair
Tossing them into a lioness like mane
A moment that holds within its hands,
7 lives of wisdom, and the sulphur of dreams

She picks up the moment sews it to her eye
She goes back to sleep, she bids time

She has been tossing more often, from side to side
She talks in her sleep, “soon” she says

She, will be, and wash over me

Within

Like ink spill on a parchment
makes shapes, accidental but meaningful

I oft find myself in vomited words words
written in hurried hand on sultry nights

Page by page I recite a fruitless attempt
at satiating a narcissistic hunger

of getting to know that girl in the mirror
the one people are fond and wary of at the same time

...and so am I

Like a poignant seizing fever it engulfs me
excruciating, drugging, piercing but absorbing

I oft find myself in half hearted sketches
blotted in charcoal and paper cutting strokes

I choke as she clutches at my tongue,
in her attempt to escape the capsule of my body

but she is slated to be captive
there are vengeful crows about

waiting to tear up her flesh but she,
she is a fighter this one,

...and so am I

I am calm,
I am chaos,
I am my own doing.

I close my eyes,
I plunge within,
I find her...

I find, myself.