A Poet's Dilemma

Drunken metaphors
Cavorting to strange rhythms,
Hauling sackfuls
Of allegory, even cliché
Pilfered from a Bedouin’s caravan,
Spice-laden, my words,
But their aroma
is lost to a critic's blocked nose.

© Dan Husain
March 30, 2005

Earthquake...

In the faint tremors
Of your quivering lips
My world tumbles
As it seeks them for a kiss

© Dan Husain
March 16, 2005

Rendezvous…

They’ve just met
And he is already lost
In the wafting aroma
Of her mesmerizing plots
Of a life spent together -
Lazing, weening
Through an Eliotesque afternoon
Or a Parisian evening.

They’ve just met
And he has already travelled
Through soulful lanes,
Self-reflecting alleys,
The landscapes that her
Words weave –
From the giddy heights of Mt. Sinai
To the meandering Ghats of Kashi.

They’ve just met
And he has already
Measured his life in slots.
So much for a rendezvous
That trips between
The real and déjà vu –
A confession in his soul’s Mecca
Or a pilgrimage to her charm-laden Jerusalem.

© Dan Husain
March 17, 2005

Afternoons & Jacaranda Smell

Latticed windows & thatched roof
Partly shroud a room full
Of conversations. We stretch our legs.
Our tongues wag, our heads sag,
Dust laden tales spring
From our minds’ recesses.
Tick-tock-tick-tock-tick
Drearily the afternoon clock ticks
Our heads swell
With jacaranda smell
As we’re sucked in -
Sucked in -
Our tales’ loose ends.

And thus we escape from
Escape from

Latticed windows & thatched roof
Partly shrouding a room full
Of conversations. Where we stretch our legs.
Let our tongues wag, our heads sag.
Dust laden tales springing
From our minds’ recesses.
Tick-tock-tick-tock-tick
Merrily the afternoon clock ticks
Our heads swell
With jacaranda smell
And we happily stay
In the loose ends of our tales.

©Dan Husain
May 26, 2003

Your Poem...

Mystic shades
Of green and blue
Interspersed with vermilion,
Laced with brocade
As if murals
In ancient Babylon
Is how I see
Your gilded words
Stretched taut
On the strings
Of your ephemeral thoughts;
At once arresting, piercing
A stake through my heart.

© Dan Husain
March 3, 2005

The Demon Within...

Clamoring sotto voce
Are few thoughts
Of how we dress
Moments into words,
Feelings into verse,
Smiles into long sigh
And few escaped breaths.

Of how we knit life
Spent in fleeting days
Into a lyrical song that
Our lovers’ lips embrace.

Of how we string a tapestry
Of torn identities,
Angels & demons within
Into a Hamletonian ‘To be or not to be!’

© Dan Husain
March 11, 2005

A Moment...

When we meet
I always feel
We’re about to part.
I sit there flushed.
Eyes coyly looking
At your pouting lips
Gleefully tossing words
That bind me,
Cast a spell,
Smite me.
You playfully poke,
“Speak!
Or has the cat bitten your tongue?”
And I don’t know
How to tell you
That in this moment
You have my heart won.

© Dan Husain
February 27, 2005

God of Plenty

Often when the dust
Flies in your face
Eyes half closed
You’ll conjure an image
Of situations
That never arose,
Of gestures
You never posed
And the moment let goes
The trepidations of heart,
Trivia, bonhomie
And a prayer once sought.

Morning
Seems the best time
Eyes swollen
Perhaps a fresh mind.
You raise your hands
Up to your head
Reflect profoundly
Before besieged by the day ahead
But the lumps in your throat
Feverishly pitch their hopes
On what always evades:
A man’s guts and a woman’s faith.

Ensconced in her arms
You see the emotions surface
Amidst the mosaic patterns
Of her evening dress
But you have no choice
Except to align, follow.
Rejoice for reasons
Long felt hollow
And if the evening wears thin
Rid your soul free of vanity
A prophet once said
There exists the God of Plenty.

©Dan Husain
February 26, 2005

Moksha

She just posed a question
As why have attachments
If all they lead to is pain,
About vanity of love
If only it binds and chains.
Her face is radiant,
Smile obscure, eyes sad,
Dress saffron with blue vignettes.
The mole on her right cheek
Often in so many ways speak
Of the womanhood she epitomizes.
I sit here in silence,
I have nothing to say.
I wish the moment could stay
And she’d understand
Often men find salvation
In such pain.

©Dan Husain
31st October 2001

Love, Longing & Parting...

In your smile unfurling
There are moments folded
When our eyes met
And our tongues
Were at loss for words.

On your arms stretched
Wishful thoughts traverse
Of a life unlived,
Bonhomie, fond embrace
And nights spent on moon-kissed beds.

In your furtive eyes
When we kiss and bid good-bye
Lurk thoughts that forever question
If this is a moment
Why can’t it stretch till eternity?

© Dan Husain
February 28, 2005

A Lyrical Existence

Hinged
On your hopes
Are my dreams
Like a pregnant thought
Waltzing
On a poet’s lips
Crushed
Under the muse’s smile
Yet brimming
With a lyrical life

Pinned
On your face
Are my smiles
Like a lover’s hope
Playing hide & seek
With his dreams
Fluttered at the prospect
Of a rendezvous
Yet assuring
This is real not a déjà vu

Sinned
Are the thoughts
That play mischief
As we softly hold
Each other’s gaze
Lyrically existing
In a moment
That perhaps
Foretells
The rest of our days

Ó Murtaza Danish Husain
December 29, 2002