Ode to a fragrant flower

Your silent presence by my side

Such magic it weaves in my life

The world is filled with a fragrant joy

Its many flaws do not catch my eye

My simple life of mundane things

Dons a new charm, a new meaning

So I am glad, my love, all those years ago

I held your hand, and never let go

Lost

With open arms, what does it ask of the sky

This lofty tree laden with luscious fruit?

Why does it trill such high notes of joy

The lonely bird perched in those dark woods?

What impels the bees to fly long miles

To gather more food than they'd ever use?

Why do the ants spend their fleeting lives

Building castles of mud and other refuse?

Why so they act? How so their thoughts?

If knowing such simple souls is beyond my ken

It is little wonder that I'm forever lost

In the labyrinthine ways of the world of men

The course of a river

It was born in a heady exuberance

(Was the earth reaching to touch the heavens?)

It flowed in joy and gurgling smiles

Like the sweet babble of an innocent child

It took down the walls along its way

And off our feet, we were swept away

In time, it slowed and steadied its course

In its cradling arms, new life arose

Come flood or drought, it kept flowing on

Burrowing deeper, and growing strong

We drifted along its meandering ways

On some dark nights, many blessed days

And now it is the boundless sea

No waves ripple through the peace

The calm sea breeze lifts us high

We float under the clear blue sky

As drops in the ocean, two kindred souls

That have merged to become one happy whole

Oh, how wondrous the paths of destiny

That've brought us together, you and me

Through laughter, joy, and some aching tears

Look how much we've grown over the years

From the hills to the sea, as the river flows

Our love has indeed walked a beautiful course

The enlightened tree

Come barren winter or blooming spring

Parching summer or pouring rain

The tree, she stands calm, unshaken

A stoic sage through joy and pain

Perhaps she knows she owes the world

No leaf nor fruit nor tender flower

She owes nothing but sixty honest seconds

Of living in a minute given to her

All she needs shall flow in time

From the earth's bosom and sun's embrace

As she stands rooted with open arms

To accept what comes with humble grace

From seed to shoot, from tree to dust

Mother Nature paves her path of life

Watching in wonder the way unfold

She gently floats on the waves of time

Through seasons of change, storms of fate

She stands in stillness and in peace

As I sit by her, I think I must too

Not yearn to become, but learn to be

Eternal

The hardiest of plants blooms not

Without a tending of the soil

The flame of a lamp dies out

If we replenish not its oil

The roaring river needs its rains

To renew its strength and flow

The earth, it seeks the sun's kiss

Each day to kindle its soul

How then does an eternal love

A marriage of beautiful minds

Though nourished not with loving words

It withers not with time?

What keeps passion's flames aglow

When stoked not by a lover's hand?

What magic etches, I ask of you

Feelings forever on fleeting sand?

You look at me with a gentle smile

You, whose love for me it shone

A steady light through stormy times

And helped me find my way back home

I ask you whence comes your strength

You, my deepest love, truest of friends

You draw me close and whisper, with tenderness

"Love begins, my dear, where reason ends"

 

A poetic end

The evening glows in a golden light

No dark clouds are pouring rain

As I walk to the sunset one last time

May your smile wash away my pain

May your thoughts fill my vivid dreams

As I slip into the endless night

When the music of life begins to ebb

May your song be my lullaby

May your soft breath caress my face

As I breathe in the last of mine

In your warm embrace, may I fall

In love with you one more time

May the last thing I see be your eyes

Of solemn grace and silent strength

As beautiful as our journey was

May just as poetic be its end

---

Inspired by these poignant lines from a ghazal by Qateel Shifai

aakhri hichki tere zaanu pe aaye

maut bhi main shaairana chahta hoon

Why do I write?

Why do I douse my deepest thoughts

In ink and lay them on a paper white

And weave them into words and verse

To what end, I wonder, do I write

I write, perhaps, with the hope someday

Someone may find the shards of my soul

Like petals dried in the pages of books

And put me together into a whole

And know me, beyond the gilded masks

I don for my mistress of vanity

And beyond the baubles bestowed on me

By the benign grace of destiny

And see me, beyond the clothes that hide

My naked flaws in thought and deed

My basest fears and baseless dreams

Memories that bruise, scars that bleed

I write so someone may know me someday

See the real me, without love or loathe

But simply, clearly, with a kind eye

As a soul would see its kindred soul

I write for the lonely child who plays

Hide and seek with the world around

And leaves a trail of words to her place

I write so someday she may be found