tujh se tere koochey se agar door hue hain

deewane tere aur bhi mashoor hue hain

tum apni jafaon ki ise jeet na samjho

hum ishq ke adaab se majboor hue hain

behtey hue ashkon ko hiqarat se na dekho

jab bhi sar-e-mishgaan yeh ruke toor hue hain

chaho to humain aaj bhi suli pe chadha do

kuch log to har daur main mansoor hue hain

har jashn-e-massarat pe nikal aye hain aansoo

har gham se galey mil ke bhi masroor hue hain

kaanton ki murrawat ne kahin saath na chodha

phoolon ki mulaqaat se ranjoor hue hain

har sang-e-malamat se mulaqaat hui hai

hum jab se tere shaher main mahdood hue hain

lou shama-e-mohabbat ki rais aur badha do

aiwan-e-wafa suntey hain benoor hue hain

As we stray further from love
We multiply the words,
Words and sentences long and orderly.
Had we remained together
We could have become a silence.

_Yehuda Amichai

Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly
in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions
of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying
flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go?
How did it go?

~Shel Silverstein

Yaad

dasht-e-tanhaii mein ai jaan-e-jahaaN larzaaN hain
teri aawaaz ke saaye, tere hontoN ke saraab
dasht-e-tanhaii mein doori ke khas-o-khaak kitne
khil rahe hain tere pehloo ke saman aur gulaab

uth rahi hai kahin qurbat se teri saans ki aanch
apni khushboo se sulagti madham madham
door ufqaar chamakti hui qatraa qatraa
khil rahi hai teri dildaar nazar ki shabnam

kis qadar pyaar se ai jaan-e-jahaan rakha hai
dil ke rukhsaar pe is waqt teri yaad ne haath
yun gumaaN hota hai garche abhi subh-e-firaaq
dhal gaya hijr ka din, aa bhi gayi wasl ki raat

~Faiz Ahmed Faiz

San Antonio

Tonight I lingered over your name,
the delicate assembly of vowels
a voice inside my head.
You were sleeping when I arrived.
I stood by your bed
and watched the sheets rise gently.
I knew what slant of light
would make you turn over.
It was then I felt
the highways slide out of my hands.
I remembered the old men
in the west side cafe,
dealing dominoes like magical charms.
It was then I knew,
like a woman looking backward,
I could not leave you,
or find anyone I loved more.

~Naomi Shihab Nye

The Hour-Glass

Consider this small dust, here in the glass,
By atoms moved:
Could you believe that this the body was
Of one that loved;
And in his mistress' flame playing like a fly,
Was turned to cinders by her eye:
Yes ; and in death, as life unblest,
To have't exprest,
Even ashes of lovers find no rest.