Poetry from Another Realm--Dr. Riaz Ahmad

                A Soul within dream Life!  My  dream or within dream,  a  soul, Ah  within my breast, an inspirited bowl, Instincts ruled me, from my infancy on ! Years rolled on, I eyed  an  unseen dawn.   Not a  slave to world , since I  hea rd a chime, Insignia of an alien orchestra, I must rhyme, A   swell in the melodies, and candid my  play , Cute listeners with sharp ears, I were astray.   A noisy lunatic; on serpentine paths I’d cried. I slighted the nobility, they doubted if I’d lied, Blest  the cup  to drink, none but light for eyes, I imbibed servile , and  blind to guiles and wiles.    The path to Thy abode,  thru affliction s may go, Paths are thorny, sojourns risky, light Thy glow, My glass’s afire, the glorified verses I shalt read , Singing the hymns along, thru my slender reed .   O wind if thou pass the garden close, sing me The hy...

                  A friend remembered   What’s friendship and what did we seek, Our dreams co me  true, strong and weak, Th o se youthful passions, betwixt us  two, Shall haunt me ever, and perhaps you  too.   Pondering into the past ,  when I steal a peep, I can dig out thine beloved face ,  buried deep, In my  paltry remembrance, you’d lived  safe, Since we part ed, the seat of rub and chafe!   Aye thither I unveil ,  aye  memoirs of the past, In  unfailing  harmony , comradeship shall last Therein I shalt catch,  hear t and my love true , In the heart and soul true,  we   the  loved two .   F ragrance of garden s,  shall  roll  my days   back, With the loving memoirs, shall  my heart  pack? In one swipe back, I evoked you frisk and  play, Plucking beautiful flowers, in their lovely sway   ’Twert not me...

                            I drift away Across the mountains, in tranquility I am lost, The music of rustling leaves ,  keeps me aghast, Wafts of the gentle breeze ,  when play my hair, T he revelry  of my muse ,  strips the nature bare .   When clouds float  leisurely,  my eyes wander, To hover over ,  altering shapes afar and yonder , The floral aroma intoxicates me ,  in the hazy air, My soul flies to the unknown ,  where I lived fair.   Soaring free, the tranquil  of beauty stuns me, Where pain had once dwelt, now I live in glee, My tears drip down, breeze wipes them away, In the tranquil peace ,  my glances dart and play .   With stars and the silvery moon ,  gliding so aloft, I eyed  twinkling stars , Nature’s bewitching craft, The unending course, as stars and moon pursue, The  subtlety  of singin g stream ,  its mag...

                 My silent speech   In my aloofness ;  there is concourse, Ah  the bustle swell s,  from its source, In the stillness ;  with lightening pace, And very  wondrous! Who’s apace?   Stretched to the infinite and so afar, Above the moon and the North Star, Once a guide ,  to my wandering bark, When I was tossed in the grisly dark.   What a mystery! The silence  spake ! Sending shivers ,  and my frame shake, O the fear of unknown ,  drawing near, Enshrouded in mist ,  to blur the clear!   The perfect solitude to surpass death, Drifting gale ,  with the scented breath, The gasping yelp ,  but it  keepest  away, And from the foul ,  it would stay away.   The kin and blood, the gold and pelf, All stripped off ,  there figures the self, And alone that shalt ,  an answer make, Shaken and roused ,  O to sense awake!   ...

            Adventure in Self   I write some phrases, but  invisible, Part with my soul, both indivisible In subtle robes ; soon  I  shall  attire, My soul’s my abode, ah both afire.   Confound me ! If ever I  call it verse , But thru lute and ly re ,  I ’ll  rehearse, My  aching heart;  in  the deep pain! Loud  shriek s, never to  end in vain!   ’Tis wrong if someone  says, guess! I’m ever  beyond, why make  a  mess, Nay hankering after, honour or fame , Douse the fire, I’m never that flame !   In my wilderness O none wanders by, Blind yet I explore ;  vision in that eye! My humility; my bliss, my adventure! In to  mystery , love alone can venture !   I live beyond jubilance ,  and  the  mirage, Silence’s my eloquence, ah dumb I rage , Eyeing my cup, a heart bleeds ruby red , I sensed some whispers, and tears shed.   ...