"There was a time when I was a woman and he was a man. Still love grew until there was neither he nor I; Only I remember faintly there was a time when there were two. But love came between and made them one."
— Persian Sufi Poem

They all came, some wore sentiments
Emblazoned on T-shirts, proclaiming the lateness
Of the hour, and indeed the sun slanted its rays
Through branches of Norfolk Island pine as though
Politely clearing its throat…
—John Ashbery, “The Other Tradition”

I have kept you secret, in the treasure cove of my chest. But as molasses leaks from its gunny bag, so my mind secretes, out- a perfume whisking in the air, ...

when i learned that all of lust, was nothing my heart burned to know you, and that sorrow sometimes made me wish it never entered my heart, living as my heart dies .

---
sometimes i tell my heart forget that love, for sometime, leave it digged in deep .

No matter how beautiful the lines, a million seers could not express the very strand of love beating in my heart, tugged by


--
master i reisgned myself! once i knew i could not make you my own ! everything around me glooms , at one i am pulled by the weight of your love, and then i am loosing , sinking here , unable to keep footing. what can i string together to piece apart this pain. i accepted this loneliness. in the stillness of earth, my heart streams as clear clouds mother ! i swore on the arrow that struck the frail smile of my heart, i would lose this life loving you, though you would be no more mine than a glance.
--

Swept Away

At first, the way of your love
seemed easy.

I thought I’d reach
your union
with speed.

After taking a few steps
I found
the way is an Ocean.

When I stepped in,
a wave swept me away.


Awhad al-Din Kirmani

Nissim Ezekiel

Night of the Scorpion
"I remember the night my mother was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him to crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Parting with his poison -- flash of diabolic tail in the dark room --
he risked the rain again. The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the Name of God a hundred times to paralyse the Evil One.
With candles and with lanterns throwing giant scorpion shadows
on the sun-baked walls they searched for him; he was not found.
They clicked their tongues. With every movement the scorpion made
his poison moved in Mother's blood, they said. May he sit still,
they said. May the sum of evil balanced in this unreal world
against the sum of good become diminished by your pain.
May the poison purify your flesh of desire, and your spirit of ambition,
they said, and they sat around on the floor with my mother in the centre.
the peace of understanding on each face. More candles, more lanterns,
more neighbours, more insects and the endless rain.
My mother twisted through and through groaning on a mat.
My father, sceptic, rationalist, trying every curse and blessing,
powder, mixture, herb, and hybrid. He even poured a little paraffin
upon the bitten toes and put a match to it.
I watched the flame feeding on my mother. I watched the holy man
perform his rites to tame the poison with incantation.
After twenty hours it lost its sting."

"My mother only said:
Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spared my children."