Some people fly too close to the sun
Some people lose control, crash and burn
Most people don’t even get off the ground
Most people live a life they hate, crushed by Fate
Do nothing, happy with what is placed on their plate
The treadmill wears out those who leave it too late
Decide now, cut the strings of the puppet masters on high
Decide now, learn the rules, take control, the time is nigh
Rise up like a god and fly , or lay down like a dog and die.
(c) Satori Publishing, 2020.
What can I leave you?
Now that you don’t want me to stay
What can I give you?
Something that you won’t throw away
Now that you don’t want me or my love
Nothing left, I point to the sky above
Use the empty sky as a blank canvas
I know you can paint a masterpiece
I have faith in your gifts, I confess
One day we will both find peace
I give you more than just an empty sky
One thing to remember each other by
Paint fluffy white clouds floating in blue
Wave your hand to set off a gentle breeze
Paint birds on the wing, singing in praise of you
Sunshine yellow, the whole rainbow, pretty please
Hang the moon and stars where you will
My god, it is your empty sky to fill
I will raise my hands high to touch
The caress of your breeze, your sun on my face
Raise my hands when I miss you too much
Bless your moon glowing on my dark space
I gave you an empty sky pole to pole
You have filled it with your beautiful soul
Now that I am on the other side of the world
I too will stand under that same sky
Whenever I think of my beautiful, baby girl
Every day and night, to remember you by
I cannot look into your wonderful eyes
But I can look up at your wondrous sky.
(c) Satori Publishing, 2020.
Be silent, my monkey mind
Stop chattering so loud
Leave room to speak in kind
To hear the whispers of God.
(c) Satori Publishing, 2020.
The rest
The best
Mindset.
(c) Satori Publishing, 2020.
A few days more, my dearest, only a few days
We are forced to draw breath in the shadow of tyranny
Bear this injustice a while longer, and tremble, and weep
By our forefathers’ legacy we have been crippled
Our bodies imprisoned, our feelings enchained
Our thoughts captive, our speech sanctioned
Credit to our courage that we still go on living
Is life but a pauper’s loose cloak, on which
Every hour a patch of pain is stitched?
But now the period of cruelty has few days left
A little more patience, our pleading has few days left
A long time in the scorched wilderness of this world
We have to exist, but this is not how we have to live
Alien hands causing unspeakably heavy oppression
Bear it today, but it will not be borne always
This dust of sorrow flames out from your beauty
This the measure of your defeated two-day youth
The pain of the useless glow from moonlit nights
The heart’s pointless beat, the body’s hopeless cry
A few days more, my dearest, only a few days.
( my translation of a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz).
(c) Satori Publishing, 2020.
Tonight do not pluck the chords of pain
All the days of suffering are concluded
Who knows the news of tomorrow?
Blurred are the lines between past and future
Who knows if another day will dawn?
Life is nothing! Apart from this night!
Divinity is possible! On this night!
Tonight do not pluck the chords of pain
Do not repeat tales about the cries of grief
Do not be in mourning over your destiny
Remove fear of the future from the heart
Do not be tearful over the life past
Do not ask for stories about the time of sorrow
Do not ask, all the complaining is done
Tonight do not pluck the chords of pain.
( my translation of a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz ).
(c) Satori Publishing, 2020.
A hundred thousand pleasures hidden in her looks
Blessings of heaven hidden in her beauty
A thousand temptations like dust under her teasing feet
Every single glance coloured by the intoxication of youth
Youth, the mere thought causes lightning to flash
Modesty, desires the companionship of the naughty
Her offering of a drunken walk causes commotion
The light of dawn pays homage to her radiant face
Tresses of dark hair cascading with multiple fragrances
Long nights spent dreaming of multiple pleasures
Those eyes which even the Creator can boast of
Poets feel ashamed trying to write verse in her praise
Those lips bestow on Spring the red of tulips
Off her shoulders flow the three springs of heaven
The robes on her soft body flatter with elegant grace
The tall, slender cypress prays in homage to her stature
All in all, that beauty is not in need of praise and fame
The beauty which is beyond human imagination
Passed by this pathway some time ago
Passed this way with much pride and splendour
Now this beautiful pathway has become deceitful at heart
Resident in this dust are the pleasures of wine and song
The breeze moves in a playful manner with seductive style
In the gentle atmosphere is the sound of soft voices
Now, on this path, that beauty is a scenic fixture
Available is an altar to bow in homage to Love.
( my translation of a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz ).
(c) Satori Publishing, 2020.
Bestow on me
Your luscious lips, innocent brow, beautiful eyes
So that I may, once more, drown in those pleasures
With one glance take my life into your embrace
That I may be enclosed in this safety net for ever
That your radiant beauty stops my return to the dark world
That the stains of past desires are washed from my heart
That I am free from the fear of grief to come
That my past and future are erased from beginning to end
Just one glance, bestow on me that one glance eternal.
( my translation of a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz ).
(c) Satori Publishing,2020.
On the edge of sunlight, the evening sets
Both meet in the twilight zone
Neither day nor night, neither today nor tomorrow
One moment eternal, the next up in smoke
On the edge of sunlight, for a moment or two
The flame of lips
The ache of arms
This union of ours, neither true nor false
Why keep secrets, the one constant not to blame
Speak falsely for what reason?
When in your ocean eyes
This evening’s sun drowns
People indoors will sleep peacefully …
The traveller will set off on the path.
( my translation of a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz ).
(c) Satori Publishing, 2020.
Come, let us also raise our hands
We who cannot recall the ritual of prayer
We who, apart from the fire of love,
Do not recall any idol, any god
Come, lay this appeal before Life, our beloved
Pour the sweet antidote of tomorrow into today’s poison
Those not strong enough to bear the weight of the times
Lighten the load, of the days and nights, on their eyelashes
Those no longer familiar with the face of dawn
Light a candle to illuminate their nights
Those whose footsteps, on any road, find no relief
Reveal to their sight the right path to travel
Those whose faith advocates falsehood and hypocrisy
May they have the courage to deny, the daring to investigate
Those who have the sword of tyranny waiting over their heads
May they gain the ability to cast off the killer’s hand
Whoever has the secret of love burning inside
Declare this today, and your burning pain will ease
The word Truth, pricks the heart like a thorn
Declare this today, and your anxiety will ease.
( my translation of a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz ).
(c) Satori Publishing, 2020.
May God not bring you that time of mourning
When peaceful sleep is forbidden to you
Your happiness to date brought to an end
Your life poured into a cup of bitterness
The mirror of your grief melts the heart
Only a swarm of sorrows are eager to remain
Extreme pain the only feeling to remain
Only in a dream does your youth remain
The pride in your beauty completely humbled
The long nights when you thirst for peaceful rest
Your mind thirsts for someone to share your grief
Like a hopeful autumn thirsts for Spring
No forehead willing to bow on your threshold
To submit in devotion, make you rejoice
To trust in false promises of tomorrow
May God not bring you that time to remind you
The restless heart that longs for you even now
The expectant eye that looks for you even now.
(my translation of a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz).
(c) Satori Publishing, 2020.
Silence has been the biggest curse of my life
Thoughts not given voice, constantly repressed
Emotions never shown, or simply expressed
Silence cuts deeper than any butcher knife.
(c) Satori Publishing, 2020.
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