WHY DOES ONE SMOKE

Why does one smoke?
To inflate lungs
With more than air
For the Breaths
Lost in sighs

OF CORNERS

Of all the places
In the world
I like corners the most
They are there all by themselves
Alone
Sad
Hiding from the light
Collecting dust
Hiding things
Hiding themselves in the process

The corners of the world, for example
Where lovers used to meet
Hiding into each other
Disappearing in one another's embrace
The world once had corners
That disappeared with lovers

I am not talking about those corners though
I love the corner of your lips
That quivers when you see me
The corner of your eye
That dilates with my dream
The corner of your heart
Where I still exist
Where I still smile 

POSSESSION

How to posess someone?
Something?
Touch their fingers
Let the hull rest on the shore
Grab the hand
A handful of earth
Rest your lips
Anchor them somewhere
After a while
Let your lips travel
The entire continent
One kiss per love
In the end
Kiss the life out
Till the person vansihes
And enters you

Tabeer

Neend k bistar ko
Aag tabeer ki lag gai
Humne khwaabon mein aksar
Dhuaan Dhuaan dekha

TANHAI

Tanhai
Bandh kamron mein
Andheron kay humrah nahi aati
Apna phone bandh kar
Laguftari kay saath nahi aati

Tanhai aati hai
Roshan din ki tarah
Jab aasman ki andhi tabnaak aankh
Jism ko halkaan karde
Magar rooh se lagi
Barf ki sil
Jami ki jami rahe

ye aati hai
Roz kay kaam
Roz ki tarah karne mein

Logun se mil kar
Jinka munh khulte hi
Aap unki zabaan ki nok se
Ek gehri khayi mein gir jaate ho

Ye aati hai
Kitaab padhte waqt
Har warq kay mudne par jab
Pichle warq kay kirdaarun ko
Waqiyat samaet bhool jaate ho

Ye aati hai
Bichadne kay baad bhi
Mere kaanu se takrate
Tumhare qahqahon ki tarah

ABYSS

She left footprints
I couldn't follow
I walked the snow
She could never trudge
We walked side by side
Holding hands in our heads
There were frozen mountains between us
We slided deep into oblivion
Separately

BULBUL

I saw a rubber tyre
Squashing her
Against the concrete road.
She lay there drowned
In her own blood
like your memory
Inside my heart.

Why should a Mystical bird
Of Attar and Ruzbihan
Stoop so low
to human level?

Maybe she lost her beloved
To some caged-hand.
Or someone made a wooden artpiece
Out of her home.
Maybe she was suicidal!
Tossing her head to every wall
In this concrete jungle.
Maybe she lost her melody
To car horns and loudspeakers.

Even then dear Bulbul
If you ever have to kill yourself
Jump off a poet's thought
Like this.

KHAYAL

Zindagi -
Jism ki pagdandi pe
Saanson ka gubaar

RESIDUE

Hair strands
entangled in the comb;
That is what is left of you
In my life.

LOVEMAKING

Human vulgarity is seen
In their lovemaking sessions.
They noise and sweat.
It's just natural
like rain -
Orgasming upon tinned roofs
Spluttering and then annihilating itself
Noisy, splashy, cacophonous.

This is not how Gods make love!
The divinity of falling is heavenly.
It's natural just like snow.

When Gods make love to Kashmir
It's December
It's silent
Serene and peaceful.