Excerpt taken from The Essential Rumi, translations by Coleman Barks with John Moyne
POEMS FOREVER
Feeling Separation
Don’t let your throat tighten
with fear. Take sips of breath
all day and night, before death
closes your mouth.
Pale sunlight,
pale the wall.
Love moves away.
The light changes.
I need more grace
than I thought.
Excerpt taken from The Essential Rumi, translations by Coleman Barks with John Moyne
The Prison
By Ayesha Malik
Clasped in my hands
A single hope
A packet of light3
A beautiful smile
Waiting to be exposed
Then why is it?
That I keep it confined
Locked and caged
Hidden beneath my rage
Calling and pleading
Scratching my stony heart
Digging in its coarse surface
Trying to be free
Soon that hope
The light
The smile
Shall find a way
A mysterious path
Through which
the impenetrable surface
shall finally break
And that will be the day
the beautiful day
I shall be rid
of all the pain and hurt
to be utterly and truly
ecstatic and brave.
Reborn
By Hira Zaryaab
How do I tell you
that my heart has flown
Like a ballon
to the person unknown
Smile that precious,
makes my soul
Reborn.
How do I go on,
my happiness has blown
My serenity belongs,
to the person unknown.
Despair
By Fatimah Batool
Heavy heart
Flowing tears
Endless hurt
Gnawing despair
Blood dying red
His favourite shirt
Lying heavy on lap
His friend’s lifeless form
An eternity passes
Till crack of dawn!
I too have loved
By Humera Maryami
They say I cannot know how they feel.
Because I have never been in love
I want to tell them that I, too, once loved.
and was covered in thorns.
There was someone whose voice calmed
my inner demons
I want to tell them how it feels
to be alone in crowded rooms
I have spent restless nights
waiting for her text.
And written her lengthy messages, waited for her
outside the college gates
and behind the academy walls.
I also used to send my beloved quotes
and goodnights and good mornings,
every day of every month of the year
I presented her with bouquets and boxes of chocolate too
I can still recall her hazel eyes
when the powdery sunlight reflected through them.
I still see the dimple that appeared when she smiled.
The way she adjusted her clip
or the buttons of her coat,
I would tell her she looked perfect whatever she wore
The tiara of her timidity and shyness
made me fall in love with her,
But I won’t tell them, because she is not
with me anymore,
For circumstances still unknown
With my wounded ego and stabbed heart
I’m already ashamed in my own eyes,
I don’t want to be embarrassed in front of them too .
What are we?
By Amina Zafar
What are we but lumps of dust?
Lost in worldly thoughts and lust
Souls so lost that they turned to shadows
Goals so fierce that ended at gallows
All that you ever do turns brown
All that is left to see is a paper town
Living in the past, desiring for a future
Present was never in your life’s picture
You thought life was friends, lovers and rain
But when death comes all shall be in vain
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