on the spiky bed of dreams i slept

and woke up with a bleeding heart

the sheet was drenched in colors of whims

so was pillow jaded of burdens

of many a sleepless nights…

the bird when tweeted outside my window

i drew the curtain back

in the iris of its eyes was dancing a rainbow wild

it had plucked an iris flower and gave  the brightest smile

the morn had stretched its gold and the sun was frowning pale

the roads had laid their arms open and trees with lazy shades

stood tall and sloppy and blase’

day upon day and night upon night is a moment and no more

which stands stagnant  in eternal awe which rest in eternal pain

i closed the window pane and moved away from idol moment

my slippers torn and wings crumbled and my crazy ventures

all smiled at me with disdain

all smiled to my oblivion..

and wrecked my composure vain

Those were the days when we realized our dreams

Floated boats on waves and geared up whirl pool 

Heart beats in a particle when came to know

Formed hundred moons with a whirling star 

Seen many skilled craftsmen in every phase

Having no dreams, fabricating silk 

The entire temple, church, masjid, chapel probing

When did divine preachers dole out contaminant? 

Due to glass n liquor, odor n music, Sahar

Few friends fashioned festive environment

 Composed by Sahar Ansari

Translated by Tanveer Rauf

What have I known this phenomenon called life to be like… I keep thinking but cant say for sure. We breathe, we desire, we aspire, we fall and we rise, finally we know its time to bid farewell. We think and think… did we live a life, or did we live an illusion? Questions upon questions upon more of them and we know how to satiate the demons of dissatisfaction by falsified scores of our shallow achievements. Inwardly we know we could not realize many a dreams and the ones we did were no longer sating enough to keep boasting about for long, mundane aspirations for mundane lives. And then we leave heaving sighs about what we would have done more if we were granted a chance and not been denied our rights to be avid seekers of riches and fame.

And then there would be some for whom life never made any sense. A day lived in, a day lived out… a nexus of breathing in and breathing out tied with a structure of clay. A clay which is dirt sometimes or fire at others, which crumbles into fragments of light only to be sucked in the void of darkness without a trace, and sometimes it is nothingness extended within and without to all that there is or is not. It defies time and it denies confines imposed by space and it melts and seeps in every bit of consiousness collective or individual, to kiss new life or to embrace perfect annihilation.

In shining alley partner to share dark nights
To be the one to share my improbability

While I tell him lies, he to tell me the truth
He to share all seasons of my temperament

I be inaccessible to him, he is to be mine
If I collapse he’s to be close to me to pits

He to be valued linking my forename
To share my disgrace from lane to lane

I see my own self; he’s to keep seeing me
He shares my instinctive covetousness

If he dreams, may dream concerning me
So to share my entire illustrative thought

Composed by Iftekhar Arif
Translated by Tanveer Rauf

2011 Shayton Equilibrium Renderings You close your eyes and feel the breeze blowing through you. You feel the road gliding by as the wheels turn. You open your eyes and wonder if you are awake or in a state of flux. Then there it is elegance staring right at you. The 2011 Shayton Equilibrium Renderings [...]

The day you choose to comply with the norms and give up on your dreams, no matter how extra-ordinary they are, you cease to live. You merely exist for the rest of your life, doing most of what the society asks you for, following that dull, monotonous routine of things well practiced, well tested and guaranteed as secure choices. And just like that, you pass away with a life that frankly was no different than billions of other beings. Continue reading »