Nusrat Bazaz It is summerMy garden is a riot of coloursSilver dewdrops sparkle on the green carpetAnd tall gladioli stand erectResplendent in red and yellowDemure balsams blush pinkHeads lowered like shy bridesYellow marigolds huddle in a cornerGlittering like the sunFragile spider lilies raise their crimson headsFlanked by tender tendrilsCheery periwinkles … Read more →
To beloved Kashmir
Manisha Manhas My love is betrothed to cloudshe sings of blooming shroudsI see withering vapours in his eyeshe sings of sorrows in snow lit dazzling ice his eyes speak up achings of disfigured blueswatching the nights and their darkest hueshe witnesses burning tulips in the flames of fireand takes me … Read more →
THREE POEMS ON PELLET VICTIMS OF KASHMIR
Muhammad Nadeem VULTURES AND DOVES ALL OVER AGAIN it’s apple seasonDoves are under curfew, againa filthy scenario all aroundfrom all quarters—(leftists, rightists,secularists, nationalists, cynics, critics andcrazed, nihilistic zealots)catch and killin the most highly militarized zone in the worldVultures and Doves all over againbullets, bombs, and bands of cowards hunt in … Read more →
Poems: Metal of the night and Green lights of the Dawn
Ashfaq Saraf Metal of the night Metal of the night grows heavy with rust when evenings bathe in cold salt of stupor and wishes — those never tried, though, for their hazard. Wearing garments soaked in last decade’s rainfall (some delayed by months and more some early by days flooding … Read more →
Findings
Omair Bhat The findings of the last night’s dream suggest that i should have woken up,(to the news of an innocent killing )as gregor samsaas angeras disappointmentbut when i wake up ( you know how this is ?waking up for me is dyingit’s tabula rasathe absence of the thought of … Read more →
Tchu Misri – Quatrains on the 2016 Uprising in Kashmir
Original Nazm by Zareef Ahmad Zareef, translated by Ather Zia. Tchu Misri Quatrains Dilawar syean temney kith shather chem pyemeth watnass mye yem tosas ae’ther chem Che yem azeh myeni chamneik posh putchnan Temen muleh kadneh dramit yemh pothar chem Karneh wadoah wai petran gam te doakh Loleh watnass khuneh sagwaan … Read more →
Ballad for Kashmir
Jhilmil Breckenridge I hear stories of an ancient land so pure. I see photographs of bluer than blue skies over a lake of molten gold. I drink kahwa flavoured with almond and saffron and smear honey, sweetened by bees from the valley, my hips swaying in a crewel work on … Read more →
The Missing Men, Found!
Muhammad Zahid They never came back once they left, with promises to come back at night, bringing smiles for kids, love for wives and hopes for their parents too. They never came back and those at home kept the doors open all night, their eyes kept looking far across the … Read more →
Poems: Cherry Tree, Chestnuts, and Invisibilities
Insha Muzaffar I through the branches of old of cherry tree I see you (the way I always see you) lonely amid the throng of contented faces writing angry letters to God while the coolness of gloaming seeps into the tepid skin of our sweaters and moon slips through the hedges … Read more →
Paradox Poems
Sumaya Teli 1 Inspired by untold stories of the old city and by people who wear their lives with the ease of a shawl thrown over a shoulder, Srinagar is a fragrance, with an ebbing heartbeat of hope: Close your eyes can you smell the seasons? Vivacious top notes of … Read more →
Untitled
Inder Salim I said to them, spontaneously Take away your Kashmir, Just take away, It is all yours. They laughed, then looked At each others faces with disbelief, But grabbed quickly: The Azadi Freedom in their hands was water As pure as one drinks At the beginning of a river. … Read more →
From Exile with Love
Poems by Amjad Majid In memory of going to an “Indian passport office” to get a passport: 1. Pehchaan Patr (“Permanent Residential Address:”) They drafted it out From ink and paper Printed and laminated Stamped, notarized, authorized From bureau to bureau From a filing cabinet To stained yellow decrepit bureaucratic … Read more →
The Summer of Our Discontent
Poems inspired by 2016 Summer Uprising in Kashmir Defiance This summer too They came Trampling my dreams Under their heavy boots This summer too They came Tearing my body With their sharp pellets This summer too They came Drowning my voice Under their shrill rhetoric This summer too They … Read more →
Three poems on Kashmir by an Indian tourist
Shrenik Mutha India’s Occupations (tr. from भारतीय कब्ज़ा) maps lie by drawing boundaries maps lie by messing up names maps lie by closing places so that the color would not leak out so that the people will be shut in and stifled like in a prison to finally enter the … Read more →
Poems for those lost in Kashmir Uprising 2016
Inshah Malik I’m Antsy These beautiful roads, In the golden sunrise While trees in rows, Stand guard, To our desires These army jeeps Meander in the roads of our woes, While, a young motorist Feels breeze in his hair riding in the line of fire A peep-hole carved on his … Read more →
A Shriek about Kashmir—A Ghazal
To Abir Bazaz, Javaid Iqbal Bhat, Hamzah, and all my Kashmiri brothers How do I see, think, dream, or speak about Kashmir? One more ghazal shall I tweak about Kashmir? Another bloody summer looms over the Dal, Wani’s died and been deified this week, about Kashmir. Vani … Read more →
Three Poems for Kashmir
By Amit Kumar 1.1 For a Murderer Its Friday, All faithful are running for the Namaz-e-Juma Somewhere a Brahmin is reciting the sacred mantras Every devotee is hand-folded, sitting in reverie I could never understand the ‘Arabic verse’ la illah ila allah mohammed rasoul allah Grandmother’s fairy-tales appealed more than … Read more →
Love and Cheer in Tight Embrace
By Saba Mahjoor mid-day the spicy potatoes the black blanket on the floor dozing in and out of careless folly the milky sleep the mild heat blazing blue sky candy floss clouds the gentle breeze trees swaying a last secret green eyes blue veined hands a kiss on the lips a … Read more →
My silky silhouette
I What if one day I say, Love I’m tired of this pretend-perfection What if that day I unwrap My silky silhouette Unhook my gold earrings Scatter my pearl necklace Unknot my braids of reason Only to show you My scarred forehead Muddied hands Bruised knees My bright doll-house What … Read more →
Intisaab- Kashmir kay shuhda kay naam
Mohammad Huzaifa Pandit Badan dareeda huun aaj ki ghata bain karti hui aayi hai Yeh sham ki kasini chaon, dehleez pay pukartay saaye Aur dareechon ki na-beena tatolti aankhain Khoonrez hawaao.n main, boo-e-gham ki muntazir Ki aaj qatalgahon say shayad phir teray kakulon ki mehak aayi hai. Haan wohi mehak … Read more →
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