four poems by temporal
am no god
when i was young
i knew everything
could do anything
i was GOD
today i know i know
so little
am barely inches
above ground
and contentedly
am no god
painting with words
if i were a painter
with whisks
would wipe away scowls
make faces smile
again
she smiled at my folly,
and
i thought of the rancor
between religions,
states
and sullen gods
but i am a stargazer and
armed with word-chisel
would work to wipe away
a few more frowns.
gajra
karachi
he never yelled
just pushed the gajras* in view
and looked with baleful eyes
when the traffic halted
other hawkers, beggars pounced
seeking alms, selling wares
and his younger sister
merely looked at you
they could’ve been mute
i never heard them peddle
the only thing i traded
was a dismissive
maaf karo! nahiN chahiyay**
* * *
toronto
stopped at red on islington*** yesterday
and the scent of jasmine wafted in
i looked around for baleful eyes
______________________________
*….a bracelet made of flowers
**…forgive me! don’t need it
***..a T.O. street
I
here
fate deals, we play
we own not the deck
play best as we can
whine, thank, pray, scold
we play
II
here
dropped in waters
we swim
with or against the tide
in shallow and deep waters
for the allotted seconds
we swim
III
is there anything
we cannot do
to stay afloat?
tell me then why
are we segmented?
1 Comment
June 24, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Very much classy! All the poems were beautiful but ‘am not God’ and Gajra stood out!