Poets on poetry

A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once

a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape

of the universe, helps to extend everyone’s knowledge of himself and the

world aroundhim. — Dylan Thomas

Poetry should surprise by a fine excess and not by singularity—it should

strike the reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts and appear

almost a remembrance. — John Keats

A poet is a nightingale, who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own

solitude with sweet sounds. — Percy Bysshe Shelley

Poetry and beauty are always making peace. When you read something beautiful you find coexistence; it breaks walls down. — Mahmoud Darwish

We are tired, my heart and I

By Tahreem Asghar

We’re tired, my heart and I

The many stars in the sky

Fail to illuminate my nights

My eyes have got swollen and dry

*

We’re tired, my heart and I

I’ve knocked many doors

But couldn’t find one to your abode

*

My ears yearn for the sound of your voice

My eyes writhe for your soul’s espy

Looking for my hamdam’s soul, I cry days and nights

We are tired, my heart and I

Spring time

By Asbah Khan

The tall weeping willow,

With its waterfall of leaves.

Gently sways in the breeze

As if dancing to a song,

Plucked on the delicate strings

of the lute.

The music which I hear;

Is made up of

Whispers of the wind,

Rustling of leaves,

Calls of cuckoo,

And the melody of songbirds.

The tree tosses and turns its head.

Its crown of emerald foliage,

Glitters in sunlight

As it welcomes the arrival of spring.

Oddities of existence

By Mashaal Farid

I heard voices in my head, I ignored

Despite pain in my legs, I strode

Days were the smooth surface of

fine stones

In a constant welter

Like shallowness in a sunlit shelter

An empty look to the sky swelter

And the screams driving me...

Now mad... mad... mad...