दीवाना बनाना है तो, दीवाना बना दे / बहज़ाद लखनवी

दीवाना बनाना है तो, दीवाना बना दे
वरना कहीं तक़दीर, तमाशा न बना दे

ए देखनेवालों मुझे हंस हंस के न देखो
तुम को भी मोहब्बत कहीं मुझ सा न बना दे

मैं ढूँढ रहा हूँ मेरी वो शम्मा कहाँ है
जो बज़म की हर चीज़ को परवाना बना दे

आख़िर कोई सूरत भी तो हो खाना-ए-दिल की
काबा नहीं बनता है, तो बुतखाना बना दे

"बहज़ाद" हर एक जाम पे एक सजदा-ए-मस्ती
हर ज़र्रे को संग-ए-दर-ए-जानां न बना दे

Without You / Adrian Henri

Without you every morning would feel like going back to work after a holiday,
Without you I couldn't stand the smell of the East Lancs Road,
Without you ghost ferries would cross the Mersey manned by skeleton crews,
Without you I'd probably feel happy and have more money and time and nothing to do with it,
Without you I'd have to leave my stillborn poems on other people's doorsteps, wrapped in brown paper,
Without you there'd never be sauce to put on sausage butties,
Without you plastic flowers in shop windows would just be plastic flowers in shop windows,
Without you I'd spend my summers picking morosley over the remains of train crashes,
Without you white birds would wrench themselves free from my paintings and fly off dripping blood into the night,
Without you green apples wouldn't taste greener,
Without you Mothers wouldn't let their children play out after tea,
Without you every musician in the world would forget how to play the blues,
Without you Public Houses would be public again,
Without you the Sunday Times colour suppliment would come out in black-and-white,
Without you indifferent colonels would shrug their shoulders and press the button,
Without you they's stop changing the flowers in Piccadilly Gardens,
Without you Clark Kent would forget how to become Superman,
Without you Sunshine Breakfast would only consist of Cornflakes,
Without you there'd be no colour in Magic colouring books,
Without you Mahler's 8th would only be performed by street musicians in derelict houses,
Without you they'd forget to put the salt in every packet of crisps,
Without you it would be an offence punishable by a fine of up to £200 or two months' imprisonment to be found in possession of curry powder,
Without you riot police are massing in quiet sidestreets,
Without you all streets would be one-way the other way,
Without you there'd be no one to kiss goodnight when we quarrel,
Without you the first martian to land would turn round and go away again,
Without you they'd forget to change the weather,
Without you blind men would sell unlucky heather,
Without you there would be
no landscapes/no stations/no houses
no chipshops/no quiet villages/no seagulls
on beaches/no hopscotch on pavements/no night/no morning/
there'd be no city no country
Without you.

Uptick / John Ashbery

We were sitting there, and
I made a joke about how
it doesn't dovetail: time,
one minute running out
faster than the one in front
it catches up to.
That way, I said,
there can be no waste.
Waste is virtually eliminated.

To come back for a few hours to
the present subject, a painting,
looking like it was seen,
half turning around, slightly apprehensive,
but it has to pay attention
to what's up ahead: a vision.
Therefore poetry dissolves in
brilliant moisture and reads us
to us.
A faint notion. Too many words,
but precious.

A Daughter's Agony / Pushpinder Kaur

A daughter's Agony,

Seeing your parents grow old is painful indeed.
Those two faces
once young, full of smiles and cheers
gradually turn
into Times' jeers.

Memory takes its toll…
The deep crevices of the wrinkles, hold within
the truth of life's varied seasons;
The mind plays many games.
some things remembered,
most forgotten and some partially so-

The voice dims…
So does every faculty;

Yet the warm and benign presence
of the aged parents,
feels like the most comfortable and precious zone
Which, when snatched, leaves us forlorn.

I Do Not Speak / Stevie Smith

I do not ask for mercy for understanding for peace
And in these heavy days I do not ask for release
I do not ask that suffering shall cease.

I do not pray to God to let me die
To give an ear attentive to my cry
To pause in his marching and not hurry by.

I do not ask for anything I do not speak
I do not question and I do not seek
I used to in the day when I was weak.

Now I am strong and lapped in sorrow
As in a coat of magic mail and borrow
From Time today and care not for tomorrow.

ताज़े गुलाब का उन्माद / जगदीश चतुर्वेदी

मैंने गुलाब को छुआ
और उसकी पंखुड़ियाँ खिल उठीं
मैंने गुलाब को अधरों से लगाया
और उसकी कोंपलों में ऊष्मा उतर आई।

गुलाब की आँखॊं में वसन्त था
और मेरी आँखॊं में उन्माद
मैंने उसे अपने पास आने का आह्वान दिया
और उसने
अपने कोमल स्पर्श से मेरी धमनियों में
स्नेह की वर्षा उड़ेल दी।

अब गुलाब मेरे रोम-रोम में है
मेरे होठों में है
मेरी बाहों में है
और उसकी रक्तिम आभा
आकाश में फैल गई है

और
बिखेर गई है मादक सुगन्ध
अवयवों में
और उगते सूरज की मुस्कुराहट में।

वो नज़र दे / खलील तनवीर

औरों की बुराई को न देखूँ वो नज़र दे
हाँ अपनी बुराई को परखने का हुनर दे

वो लोग जो सूरज के उजाले में चले थे
किस राह में गुम हो गए कुछ उन की ख़बर दे

इक उम्र से जलते हुए सहराओं में गुम हूँ
कुछ देर ठहर जाऊँगा दामान-ए-शजर दे

इक ख़ौफ़ सा तारी है घरों से नहीं निकले
तरसी हुई आँखों को सराबों का सफ़र दे

सब अपने चराग़ों को बुझाए हुए चुप हैं
इक आग सी सीने में लगा दे वो शरर दे