Poetry from Another Realm--Dr. Riaz Ahmad

                             A Repentance   Why so? I ride a swift  horse , chasing  a dear, But  I’m chased by a tiger; petrified with fear, I design days and nights ,  to get what I desire, But I land in a prison , setting  my  wants a fire.   The ephemeral shadows ; eclipse my  mind, That was planned to be one, ethereal kind! Like stray birds ;  ah I pursued different trails, Fluttering and falling ; into  the stormy gales.   Teeming ideas flo g ged, my myst ified mind, To my query ,  an answer therein I didst find , One  humble being, the sifting and the sieve, I toppled  in to  my lapses ,  to  weep and  grieve.   Aloof and silenced ’neath the somber skies , I raised  my stare  yonder ,  with  heaving sighs , On  the  dark  vista s ,  stealing  my  probing gaze...

           M iracles , rarely practiced The   gentle hand and its stately  magic , Lights a fading heart,  the   fallen and tragic, Its soft touch, as  overt a kes the gloom, The  waned  passions,  surge  and  bloom !   Lo  the  stunning magic,  of a kind smile, May  enliven the  ashen  face , in a while, Throwing  a spell ,  the sullen face  over , E mbellish  it ,   aye  charisma  sha ll hover !   And mesmeric,  the  rule  of a kind word, The   choicest   pearl ;   a rarity  in  the  world , M any a grievous bruise , aye  ‘twill heal, From a dejected heart,  the hurts  steal !   O behold the power ,  of a listening ear, Abating  the horrors ;  of  sting  and fear, The pent up emotions ,   discover voice , As t he  crest-fallen , ...

                              A Travelogue   He has plundered my heart and rob b ed my soul, The arrow pierced  my breast, shot  from my goal, Wriggling serpentine,  thru  earth y and crazy ways , I dissolve d  into nothingness,  but   alive  to  the  haze .   Zephyr wafting thru foliage, with mesmeric rustle, S neak ing silent  and unknown, thru swelling bustle , I braced  my  unseen wings,  and  alight on film y curls , Thru   cosmic corridors , I odyssey  as mystery unfurls.   Across the realms of love, pining away and afire, Tossed and swung around, then into love’s pyre , Abandoned of my reason, I were seething alone, In a  tryst sans bounds, a tavern  infinitely  blown !   Days and light  of yore, end in vapour and smoke, Floating here and there, the link betwixt I invoke, Twilight...

                    A flicker of Hope   T he  alien  darkness and my  queer  woes, I convulse  in agony , odd are the throes, My heart’s wrenched, and spurts blood , Ah  my face,  drenched  in  ruby-red  flood.   The rustle and b ustle, and blatant lies, The glamor of throng, clouds my eyes, The truth’s engulfed, by  roving   throng , Mischief’s on rampage, wide and long.   The folks of black hearts, and souls vile, Wreak hell on the naïve,  and each  guile, Aye speech charged, with hate and bile, Flaming tongues, to smudge each smile.   Terrible moments, surpass a nightmare, Compassion trodden upon,  in the blare Of illusive slogans, runs of dingy course ! Virtue dies ,  knavery lives reigning force !   My people! Rise with heads holding high, A glimmer’s in waiting, yonder in the sky, And live your hearts, in the glare of light...

                A child’s Supplication                                                           As years roll on, make a human of me, To perform unwavering ,  in woe or glee,  Enticed  away to the allures, I’m naught, With  that of  iron will ,  I may be wrought.   Award me prized  vision ; I shall see thru The tangled paths, the virtuous I pursue, With a beauteous heart, I must be blest,  And decipher the mystery,  in my breast.   Light me the  treks  of love  and compassion, Plodding the streak of truth, be my passion, The  flambeau  in hand, pass around  the light, The   vision to the blind;   i n  the black of night!   O my Lord! Help me the   faded  trail s   to  blaze, S...

                       An Entrance Tousled muse, this labyrinth and night, Usher me chaste, yonder to pure light, Help me sail swift, alight on filmy gale, Gulp ing all my way , swig s of divine ale .   In a tavern, an inebriate  is  pining away , Wits flouted, heart bleeding, and astray, Bleeding at the altar of love, yet in tears, Convulsing in a tryst, for unknown fears.   In   sottish  state, bless me a starring cup, To fill it with ale, and the divinity  I’ll sup , Like a lucky bird, I wilt verge on the brim, To behold the spark,  aye   my face  to rim !   Someone pours music, like  singing stream, Fountains play on fields, all lush and gleam, In parables of life, let flow heavenly breeze, A glimpse and a startle, my heart shall seize   An infinite sphere, beyond the Sun and sky, The lamp in my heart, lends fuel to  my sig h, Celestial orbs whirl, stars ...

                A missive from motherland   The deprived and oppressed folk, of my  land, Ever  dealt with  ruthlessly, with an  iron hand, Always  thriving below ,  or on the poverty line, Alack! Amid  the fertile lands of rich sunshine.   The  children  live,  in the damp and biting cold, Half naked; ah  on  the  wickers piteously rolled, With wizened visage, their  arms weak and lank, Shelter less they loiter, in the dreary  and dank!   Glitter  less  eyes of stony stare , lackluster smiles The dying flicker slaughtered, on altar of guiles, Blinds drawn across, if there were a  ra y of  hope, Abandoned to the  abyss , hapless   they’d  grope!    And  dexterous hands, swapped with  the bowls, Begging for alms,  the humanity  sinks and  fouls, From pillar to post ,  abjectly they are ...