You alone exist; I do not, O Beloved! ~ ~ Baba Bhulley Shah

- - - -
You alone exist; I do not, O Beloved!
You alone exist, I do not!
Like the shadow of a house in ruins,
I revolve in my own mind.
If I speak, you speak with me:
If I am silent, you are in my mind.
If I sleep, you sleep with me:
If I walk, you are along my path.
Oh Bulleh, the spouse has come to my house:
My life is a sacrifice unto Him.
You alone exist; I do not, O Beloved!
- - -
Baba Bhullay Shah

Repeating the name of Beloved ~ ~ Bhulay Shah

- - -
Repeating the name of the Beloved
I have become the Beloved myself.
Whom shall I call the Beloved now?
- - -
Bhullay Shah

Moons & Junes & Ferris Wheels...

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way that you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way

But now it's just another show
And you leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away

I've looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall
I really don't know love at all...

Poem by Parvin Shakir

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun (sonnet) ~ ~ William Shakespeare

- - - -
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
- - - - -
William Shakespeare

Khushbuu hai vo to chhuu ke badan ko guzar na jaaye ~ Parvin Shakir

- - - - -
Khushbuu hai vo to chhuu ke badan ko guzar na jaaye
jab tak mere wajuud ke andar utar na jaaye

Khud phuul ne bhii honth kiye apane niim-vaa
chorii tamaam rang kii titalii ke sar na jaaye

is Khauf se vo saath nibhaane ke haq mein hai
khokar mujhe ye ladakii kahiin dukh se mar na jaaye

palkon ko us kii apane dupatte se ponch duun
kal ke safar mein aaj kii gard-e-safar na jaaye

main kis ke haath bhejuun use aaj kii duaa
qaasid havaa sitaaraa koii us ke ghar na jaaye
- - -
Parvin Shakir (Roman Urdu)

Still I Rise ~~ Maya Angelou

- - -
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.


- - - Maya Angelou