Twin exile

When I am not in Kashmir

What is God doing there?

The echoes from Kashmir

Burn my soul in exile

I turn into ruins inside my body

This foreign land robbed my sleep

My dreams

My mother calls me every day, twice

I speak to her

As I speak to the mirror in my room

“Son, your father’s blood pressure is low”

I see my eyes turning red

“He wants to see you”

I try to find myself in the mirror

“Come back to Kashmir…”

I break into thousand reflections

In front of the mirror

She drops the call.

I hold the phone to my ear for long

Hoping

When I am not in Kashmir

God will speak to me from there

Tumhare naam ek khat...

Tumhe aasmaan mai footpath nazar kaise aaye?

Tum thehre manzilon ke musafir

Mai thehra raah ka deewana

Mai to har raat aasmaan pe

Apne toote khwaabon ki

Mitti bikhair kar

Muhabbat ki meethi fasl kaatta rehta hun

Acha suno...

Naraaz na hona

Wo phal jo tum hijr ke bazaar se

Mere liye le aaye the

Mai wo raat chaand ko khila aaya hun

Wo kai raaton se

Aasmaan ke registaan mai

Bhookha chal raha tha

Aur haan...

Fursat miley to

Apni kalai pe lagi ghadi dekh lena

Pichli raat ke kuch lamhe

Ab bhi usme atkey hue hain

Unhe raat soney se pehle

Jhatak dena

Meri kasam

Apne takiye se lipat na jana

Meri neend toot jati hai

Phir ye khayal bhi aata hai

Ki tum jaag rahi hogi

Bus phir kya!

Beqarari ke sab samaan ho jaatey hain

Subha talak…

Aur phir kuch uske baad bhi…

Self-disclosure

Love! Tell me once

How do you hide it?

People see me

And they get to know

Everything about you

How shall I hide you inside me?

You are inside me

Like the picture in a frame

You are inside me

Like the wetness in the rain

You are inside me

Like a seething volcano

Like the thundering clouds

Like a contagious smile of a baby

How shall I hide you inside me?

Rumi's dust

When truth poisons your blood

Death is a dance you do all the time

Fear is a road you never walk

Love is a song you sing all the time

On my birthday

This is 15^th August

I wasn’t born this day

This day

I just came out of my mother’s womb

Secret universe

Sometimes

Like a child

I believe

World is just a marble

And I have so many of them

Hidden somewhere

In my secret place

Inspiration

Your eyes are like an outbreak

They inspire revolution within me

Heena - the color of life

This poet sleeps

On the lips of your dreams

Words have gone again on strike

I am curfewed in your eyes

I see you

From the window of the moon

I hear you

Like an old song of longing

Of Habba Khatoon

I hold you

Like a dry leaf of Chinar

I keep you safe

In the secret pocket

Of my grandmother’s phirin

With all my shy marbles

Of childish desires

I wait for you

To play with me

I wait for you

To sing with me

I wait for you

To shout with me

On the unknown mountains

Of beloved Kashmir

I am the miner

I am the miner of my own being

I dig inside the dark caves of my loneliness

Diamonds for you

Coals for me

Craft of love

Love is like a perfect storm

You can’t help but drown deep

Only to get washed off unconscious

On the shores of oblivion

Love is like a sharp knife

Cutting through your every vein

You can’t help but let it pass

Till it reaches the core of your heart

Love is like a childhood rhyme

You can’t help but sing along

Even though you forget the words

You still feel the joy of the rhyme

You

Your eyes are as clear as mathematics

Two plus two is always four

No nose of doubt in between

Your lips are keys

Of an old typewriter

I press them hard with my lips

Printing your name

Over and over again

On the blank pages of my forehead

Your smile is a newspaper

I read it

Every morning

Every evening

And when the day is gone

I keep solving the crossword puzzle

                                           Of your long snarled hairs