Leisure

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

--- W. H. Davies

An Autumnal ghazal

Rastay manzilen sarab aur dil
kitne be-rooh murda khoab aur dil

lams ke haath kitne yakh – basta
sard- muhri ke kitne baab aur dil

jaan -kani hai ya zeest karna hai
dharkanon ka mehaz azaab aur dil

yaad ke dhundlake mein jeene do!
Bhool jane ka iztarab aur dil

raah mein aagahi ke sang-reze
haath mein hijr ki kitaab aur dil

---Jahanunma

Poem 'An Autumnal ghazal (haath mein hijr ki kitaab…)' taken from this blogpost.

Quatrains

I sent you a few words
ones that are now rare –
if they reach you one day,
hide them, there’s no way to understand me

the space that exists within a word
is like our home:
there are pictures, sounds, and gestures in it –
and yet we are forbidden to decipher it

for those who still believe in words:
silent is their surging core, pitch-dark is their heart of fire –
but when will we ever understand the sea?
and the eternal fire?

what do we find beyond words:
a flower garden? deep space?
in the garden, so many things are left unsaid
in space, so stark is the void

what else is left to cling on to? some words
insist on bursting through reality’s edge –
upon reaching the other shore, will it still be meaningful,
to you, everything I want to say?

in every word you read there are always
missing letters –
you will find them again someday
amidst thickets of memories.

by Sapardi Djoko Damono
translation: Hasif Amini and Sapardi Djoko Damono
from Hujan Bulan Juni
publisher: Grasindo, Jakarta, 1994