Homeless

By Sualihah Tabassum

One stair to another

Then a corridor to next

Window to window,

Kitchen to rooms,

Backyard to cupboards,

Lawn to storeroom,

Then back to my room,

I wander...

I wander...

I wander homeless...!

Raan.tas

(Kashmiri mythical character who’s believed to have been wailing at nights for someone)

That wailing woman

Wandering in the darkest nights

Whom they called Raan.tas.

Now dwells within all of us.

Thus, today every home has a Raan.tas,

Wailing for her someone;

A missing son, a murdered husband,

A despoiled father, a ruined daughter,

disappeared beloved or some kith or kin

By those,

Who have always been our Rakshak...!

Together we shall be free...

Not the fault lies in Us

But in You and Me;

I shall atone to Myself,

And You to Ye.

Together thence, we shall be free!!

‘Phe.ran' ( Kashmiri robe usually worn during harsh winters)

So again...

We put on ‘Phe.rans' (Kashmiri robe)

To cloak our burns.

Inside, holding 'Kang.ris'(heating pots),

In which the chunks of our dreams

Turn to ashes.

The moon like a sick Dedh(aged lady),

Glares lifelessly at nights.

And the sun during days

shines cold,

In our land,

Where blood oozes as 'Nags'(springs)

From anywhere or from everywhere...!

Heart through the veins...

heart through the veins of my pen,

pours on the blank, you see ink...

every verse a wound,

and your reading a balm,

which I almost never felt or received....

A Woman

No nation is sovereign

When I ain’t free;

I am significant pillar

Of every polity.

None other am I,

But the same earthling

Whom in language

Call you "a woman"!!!

Life and Time

As if all forces revolve in one orbit.

Then at some point

One is mirror to the other;

Likewise, TIME is then what LIFE is.

Both are in search of a start and an end.

Their circles never complete.

Only their containers change.

The former is perhaps volatile,

And exists in search of some sky.

The later one is patient in flow,

And is keen to reach some sea.

In this course they remain belongings,

To the creatures of every kind.

Thus, they are no one's

Possessions,

Therefore, no creature is living

Nor dies.

Only their duties begin and end,

For these two forces; Life and Time.

Hence, they exist for us and we for them.

By Sualihah Tabassum