waking to the moon-
sleeping in its tempered presence
this is time’s circular path.

spring flowers- sweetness in the air;
pansies, daffodils, petunias,
and the bougainvillea:
as if it grew secretly while winter wailed;
and like an old cousin
visiting out of the blue,
the bougainvillea has bloomed in a quick rapture;
this fullness
an openness inviting life
to stretch its arms in a languid hour.
faiz sahab’s nazm*¹ bahaar aaee *² dripping from open windows in the alleys leading to the old lahore.
women soak henna overnight –
apply it to their hair-
laughing at jokes no one knows.
hope rises;
a trail of smoke left after a campfire
deep in the woods;
they sat around it,
hunched deep in
conversations of
ancient parables –
morning brought reminders of what
nights hold preciously
trees listen cautiously
never to tell
ever.
you walk past all this
leaving it for the city
where numbness awaits
dreamers weaved a dream
but for a moment.

bahār aa.ī to jaise yak-bār

lauT aa.e haiñ phir adam se

vo ḳhvāb saare shabāb saare

~ faiz Ahmed faiz

…

Dee is from Lahore, Pakistan. Loves dark nights and old trees.

*¹ faiz Ahmed faiz
pakistani poet 1911-1984
*²  tranlsation: spring came ; a nazm(poem) by faiz Ahmed faiz representing metaphorically the hope of new beginnings and the renderings thus