Syed Tanees Zubair The backbone Someone was born On that day To face the fears Resist the fray He makes me happy He resists my fear, And when I cry He wipes my tears. He does so good So why is the world foe; Why only he Why this woe? … Read more →
The worse for wear
Bangalore, Jan 2022 Ashfaq Saraf today takes only so much from yesterdayas may serve to make life bearablenothing ever is as it was before, things change –age, morph, decay so thatone sees in the mirror, sees their own faceand exclaims with relief at the awareness: I did love is it … Read more →
The Voice
O Kashmiri I tried telling The Voice, To let me go my way, But it spoke too loud, And the words were too strong, I couldn’t resist following, It, the way it led me, To an edge of a Cliff,’ I thought I heard the waves, Call my name from … Read more →
Graveyard of empires
Syed Jesarat The postman hasn’t Left the post office since Two decades, My Dream’ letters – to the Broken mirror of Himalayas Will never reach you But the scattered carcasses. The pocket letters of Our times’ are hollow shadows of memories snatched away And kept in a dungeon … Read more →
No Lockdown can overcome us
Abdul Azeem* Nothing is new neither this plague nor its lockdown it came with. All along, we’ve been witness to so many plagues and lockdowns. Not only social distancing, the plague of occupation exposed us to communication lockdowns as well. Since the past seven decades, the continuous tribulations, are meddling … Read more →
Your Brother
iKoshur Your brother walks in shadows, roams the land in utter secrecy, his image alive in a multitude of hearts that are far too many to count. His feet touch upon the soil like determined whispers of a man whose voice is louder than any force a million strong. His … Read more →
Kashmir – The Invisible and the Damned
Aijaz Zaka Syed You can look away now The Vale of tears has dried up And a deathly silence stalks the Dal Deserted towns, burnt orchards and shadows everywhere. Paradise will ne’er be the same again Nothing will ever be the same again We, the invisible and the … Read more →
Ghazalnama: Poems from Delhi, Belfast, and Urdu
A selection from a book of poems by Maaz bin Bilal. Maaz lived in Old Delhi for most of his life before leaving for a doctorate in literary studies at the Queen’s University of Belfast. He now teaches at Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities in Sonipat where he … Read more →
Response Poetry
We called poets to write us “Response Poems” We asked them to recall any favorite poem that spoke to them or inspired them or was a companion to them when no one else is. Then we asked if they ever have written a response to it in the form of … Read more →
Abandonment
Daaniyal Hassan At Srinagar Airport The waiting furniture has grown roots in the frosted floor. The carpenter’s chisel runs smooth blade in my palms. Grape leaves are carved on walnut wood. This is the anatomy of deficient hands without you. From door to door of … Read more →
The number “four”
Yogesh Mishra On the way to school Zuni counts One barricade, two barricades, three barricades Green is Pakistan Saffron is India And blood is red It is little Zuni’s new charade The way she learns counting and recalls a color’s name I do not know whom to blame … Read more →
A poem for Aasif Sultan
Omer Sultan I wrote this poem to address the illegal imprisonment of Aasif Sultan, the Assistant Editor of Kashmir Narrator, a monthly magazine. Aasif, my brother was arrested on the intervening night of 27th and 28th of August 2018. He dropped me to the airport a day before his arrest. … Read more →
When the War is over
Shabir Ahmad Mir When the war is over And you can come over To our side I will let you poke Your finger Into the holes left By bullets and pellets And you will feel how much they hurt Still. When the war is over I will let … Read more →
Why Do We Write About Kashmir? and Other poems by Syamantakshobhan Basu
1. Why Do We Write About Kashmir? I have never been to Kashmir In my life. They say when you first see The way the snow catches the Sun In Gulmarg, You draw your breath in so that It may not escape with some of the Feeling that you can … Read more →
Refugee by Manisha Manhas
1. when the worm- bitten memories; decided to consume us We offered them a part of our hearts. And took a flight over a river. To reach a land called Home. Steeped in the memory of a lane- the silence of a town. A market of corpses, … Read more →
The Student Uprising & Other Poem by Fazili Zabirah
1. The student uprising The sky is dark. An eerie silence prevails I am out, looking: may be, the stars or some peace? The day was hectic but memorable. Out there, on streets I found them all. Sigh of relief. Amid slogans and calls for freedom, I found peace. Now … Read more →
Two Poems by Arnab Chakraborty
1 Today, like most days There were a lot of people in the market Of poetry. The highest were of course Like finest chinaware Created with love devotion and sacrifice, And like all great things in the market Received little attention And littler reward. The 200 rupee poems were being … Read more →
Incipience and other poems
Taseer Gujral ~ incipience ~ the place i come from does not exist anymore it was a soluble continent a filigree of gold and green fed by a maze of five rivers it survived the wounds of a land divided and a savage holocaust only to hear the sufi … Read more →
Through the burning years and another poem
Junaid Ashraf When I was little I had smelled the years ahead of me burning! I had to walk on the embers through merciless flames I would look up In the sky waiting That a voice will call the fire ‘’Be cool’’ But it never did! Fire is perhaps Meant … Read more →
As If and Other Poems
Insha Muzafar Poem I As If As if all that existed could ever be more than my remembrance and your penchant for lost things contrary to your scepticism I believe in these dreams of bread; the hunger of words (swirling inside the voids of mirrors) for the stones of … Read more →
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