I Know

My heart is a mess, this much I know
No words to be found as such, I know

There is but shame to survive the pain
A pinch of a nerve, a touch I know

Don't kill the man for beauty's sake, love
Your eyes will long for that, much, I know

Give life its death and live tonight
Dreams are no match for how much I know

Ill-gotten are all your woes, that's true
When fate arrives that's your crutch, I know

A name, not a feeble sigh, Aslam,
Is what's yours but not to touch, I know


(This is in the form of a ghazal.)

When Tomorrow Comes

Take the train that left the station when tomorrow comes
Give in to the lost temptation when tomorrow comes

Hope and lust will grow a tree and shade forever
Mediocre aspiration when tomorrow comes

Books lined up to fend off love between breathing bookends
Left bereft of sublimation when tomorrow comes

All the prickly heat desire soothes to pamper touch
Won't subside and save sensation when tomorrow comes

Left alone with TV shows, time will make peace with space
Skip the ads of admonition when tomorrow comes

Groundhogs scared of shadows and robins obsessed with Spring
Will tell tales of pride in nation when tomorrow comes

In the heart of fortune lies the blind comfort of bliss
Drink from fountains of damnation when tomorrow comes

The mess, Aslam, at meaning's last horizon of faith
Could show proof of evolution when tomorrow comes

(A ghazal. I had some fun with this one -- goes from personal/"deep" to silly to topical, tries to mix it all up, and isn't ashamed of a few clichés...)

And Lie

Quiet truths rise with evening's fall from grace and lie
Morning beckons dreams to fly in life's face and lie

No more, no less, this everlasting absent time
What demise will life's work adorn, efface and lie?

Win for me love's lavender bounty in daylight
My prize, I pray, this time I won't deface and lie

Soon it will begin, the promised epoch of naught
Today's still moment must know this disgrace and lie

Worlds turn, Aslam, dancing with all of your past loves
Would that you could eke out one true embrace and lie

(This is a ghazal.)