Member Poem

Ghulam’s Ghazals

Ghulam crosses the Indian border
to conquer. Bodies vanish; souls
wander in the vicarious valleys.

Fanatics essay to frighten
the music maestro, shouting
outside the auditorium.

If they sit inside, they’ll return
as men. There’s no discrimination
in music. Minds molt mundane

emotions, and become fresh again.
His ghazals, like AB group, accept
blood of Hindustani classical music.

Music creates blue moonlight,
when a youth enjoys black
hair-falls amidst the fragrance

of jasmine blooms. A man in
seventies skulks to1960, where
a brown girl stands half hidden

behind door. Aches and
anxieties lie vanquished
in Ghulam’s voice

and variations. Men
in diverse creeds die;
human beings rise.

[Ghazal is a lyric poem, typically on the theme of love, set to music.
Ghulam Ali is a Pakistani ghazal singer.
AB is a blood group known as ‘universal acceptor’]