Monday, May 30, 2011

If I should have a daughter...

" If I should have a daughter… Instead of "mom," she's going to call me "Point B." Because that way she knows that no matter what happens at least she can always find her way to me. And I'm gonna paint the solar systems on the backs of her hands, so she has to learn the entire universe before she can say 'I know that like the back of my hand.'
And She's gonna learn that this life will hit you, hard, in the face, wait for you to get back up just so it can kick you in the stomach, but getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air. There is hurt, here, that can not be fixed by bandaids or poetry, so the first time she realizes that Wonder Woman isn't coming I'll make sure she knows that she doesn't have to wear the cape all by herself. Cause no matter how wide you stretch your fingers your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal. Believe me, I've tried.
'And baby,' I'll tell her, 'don't keep your nose up in the air like that. I know that trick. I've done it a million times. You're just smelling for smoke so you can follow the trail back to a burning house so you can find the boy who lost everything in the fire to see if you can save him. Or else find the boy who lit the fire in the first place to see if you can change him.'
But I know she will anyway. So instead I'll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain boots nearby. Because there's no heartbreak that chocolate can't fix. Okay… there's a few heartbreaks that chocolate can't fix, but that's what the rain boots are for! Because rain will wash away everything if you let it.
I want her to look at the world through the underside of a glass bottom boat; to look through a microscope at the galaxies that exist on the pinpoint of a human mind. Because that's the way my mom taught me: That there'll be days like this. There'll be days like this, my momma said.
when you open your hands to catch, and wind up with only blisters and bruises. When you step out of the phone booth and try to fly and the very people you want to save are the ones standing on your cape. When your boots will fill with rain and you'll be up to your knees in disappointment and those are the very days you have all the more reason to say "thank you" cause there is nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline no matter how many times it's sent away.
You will put the "win" in win some, lose some. You'll put the "star" in starting over and over. And no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute, be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called: life.

And yes. On a scale of 1 to… over-trusting. I am pretty darn naive. But I want her to know that this world is made out of sugar. It can crumble so easily, but don't be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it.

'Baby!' I'll tell her, 'Remember, your mama is a worrier, but your papa is a warrior. And you are the girl with small hands and big eyes, who never stops asking for more. Remember that good things come in 3(s) and so do bad things. and always apologize when you've done something wrong but don't you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining. Your voice is small but don't ever stop singing.'
'And when they finally hand you heartbreak, slip hatred and war under your doorstep and hand you handouts on street corners of cynicism and defeat, you tell them that they really ought to meet your mother.' "

- By Spoken Word Poet Sarah Kay

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Hazaro Khwahishe Aisi...

हजारों ख्वाहिशें ऐसी कि हर ख्वाहिश पे दम निकले
बहुत निकले मेरे अरमाँ, लेकिन फिर भी कम निकले

...thousands of desires, each worth dying for...
many of them I have realized...yet I yearn for more...

डरे क्यों मेरा कातिल क्या रहेगा उसकी गर्दन पर
वो खून जो चश्म-ऐ-तर से उम्र भर यूं दम-ब-दम निकले

Why should my killer (lover) be afraid? No one will hold her responsible
for the blood which will continuously flow through my eyes all my life

निकलना खुल्द से आदम का सुनते आये हैं लेकिन
बहुत बे-आबरू होकर तेरे कूचे से हम निकले

We have heard about the dismissal of Adam from Heaven (the biggest disgrace)
With more humiliation, I am leaving the street on which you live...

भ्रम खुल जाये जालीम तेरे कामत कि दराजी का
अगर इस तुर्रा-ए-पुरपेच-ओ-खम का पेच-ओ-खम निकले

Oh tyrant, your true (bad) personality will become known to all
if the curls of my hair slip through my turban!
(Basically Ghalib says that your secret will be known to all the way curls of hair (representing complexities) slip through the turban (representing a respected man) )

मगर लिखवाये कोई उसको खत तो हमसे लिखवाये
हुई सुबह और घर से कान पर रखकर कलम निकले

But if someone wants to write her a letter, they can ask me,
every morning I leave my house with my pen on my ear.

हुई इस दौर में मनसूब मुझसे बादा-आशामी
फिर आया वो जमाना जो जहाँ से जाम-ए-जम निकले

In that age, I turned to drinking (alcohol)
and then the time came when my entire world was occupied by alcohol

हुई जिनसे तव्वको खस्तगी की दाद पाने की
वो हमसे भी ज्यादा खस्ता-ए-तेग-ए-सितम निकले

from whom I expected justice/praise for my weakness
turned out to be more injured with the same cruel sword

मुहब्बत में नहीं है फ़र्क जीने और मरने का
उसी को देख कर जीते हैं जिस काफिर पे दम निकले

When in love, there is little difference between life and death
we live by looking at the infidel for whom we are willing to die

जरा कर जोर सिने पर कि तीर-ऐ-पुरसितम निकले
जो वो निकले तो दिल निकले, जो दिल निकले तो दम निकले

Put some pressure on your heart to remove that cruel arrow
for if the arrow comes out, so will your heart...and your life

खुदा के बासते पर्दा ना काबे से उठा जालिम
कहीं ऐसा न हो याँ भी वही काफिर सनम निकले

For god's sake, don't lift the cover off any secrets you tyrant
the infidel might turn out to be my lover!

कहाँ मयखाने का दरवाजा 'गालिब' और कहाँ वाइज़
पर इतना जानते हैं, कल वो जाता था के हम निकले

The preacher and the bar's entrance are way apart
yet I saw him entering the bar as I was leaving!