Blackbird

There is a blackbird stuck in my throat. She’s forgotten how to fly. I hope with an earnest heart that when I actually manage to cough her up, she splatters on the paper and becomes words in ink. She sings a long forgotten song within the unholy walls of my throat. Not knowing that sometimes she makes me want to throw up remorse and truth like splinters after a bomb has gone off inside my heart. You blackbird, why did you forget to fly? Blackbird just sits and watches me bleed at the feet of strangers’ names. Blackbird is a witness. She knows. She understands it is simpler to unwrap at new doorsteps, to fall like ashes off the sides of burnt paper. Blackbird doesn’t let me swallow words as easily as I could before. There are more and more thoughts getting lost on their way out. Blackbird keeps a count. She knows. Blackbird can afford to just lurk inside me like a parasite. Sucking voices away, making thoughts disappear. Blackbird watches me crumble like a building blown up with dynamite. There a moment before, and suddenly now, gone. If someday I manage to cough her up, I hope she splatters on the paper and becomes words in ink. You blackbird, why did you forget to fly?

ज़ुर्रत

आज जब नीदं खुली तो लगा
जैसे एहसान हुआ होगा कहीं सपनो में
कि दिल भारी नहीं आज इतना
कि बिस्तर से नीचे ना उतरने दे |

आज कई बार इरादा बन सा आया था
“बस, आज तो जी लेना है खुल के!”
पर फिर हमने और इरादों ने
करवट बदल ली मुस्कुराकर |

खुशनसीब हैं वो जिन्हे डर नहीं लगता जंग से
हम जैसों से तो
कागज़ पर चाँद शब्द नहीं लिखे जाते बिना रुके
कि ना जाने कौन सा बाँध टूट पड़ेगा आज|

मगर आज शायद ज़ुर्रत कर लेनी चाहिए
उन आधी लिखी कविताओं को पूरा करने कि
आज शायद ज़ुर्रत करने कि
ज़ुर्रत कर लेनी चाहिए |