Beneath this slab
John Brown is stowed.
He watched the ads
And not the road.

Late, by myself, in the boat of myself,
no light and no land anywhere,
cloudcover thick. I try to stay
just above the surface,
yet I'm already under
and living with the ocean

Calm day through the thin curtain, swallows talking fast.
Pairs of fighting sparrows kick up dust on the steps.
Wind at dusk, a brushwood gate swings shut.
Flowers dropp their last petals. No one notices.

Last time, I think,
I'll brush the flies
from my father's face.


Translated by Robert Hass

Last night, your long-lost memory came back to me as though
Spring stealthily should come to a forsaken wilderness
A gentle breeze its fragrance over burning deserts blow
Or, all at once be soothed somehow the sick soul’s distress.

Last night you left me and slept
your own deep sleep. Tonight you turn
and turn. I say,
'You and I will be together
till the universe dissolves.'
You mumble back things you thought of
when you were drunk.

Last night I drove a car

Last night your faded memory came to me
As in the wilderness spring comes quietly,
As, slowly, in the desert moves thew breeze,
As to a sick man, without cause, comes peace

[Original: Urdu, Translated by: Faiz Ahmed Faiz]

Death stands above me, whispering low
I know not what into my ear:
Of his strange language all I know
Is, there is not a word of fear.

Green arsenic smeared on an egg-white cloth,
Crushed strawberries! Come, let us feast our eyes.