Sanober Khan 1

Sanober Khan

TurquoiseSilence

Turquoise Silence2

Copyright© Sanober Khan

ISBN 978-81-8253-476-6

First Edition: 2014

Rs. 200/-

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Contents

Poetry In My Heart ................................................................... 7

Tonight’s Moon......................................................................... 9

Beautiful Moment ................................................................... 12

Those Words ........................................................................ 14

Greetings ............................................................................... 15

Natural Cures ........................................................................ 17

What’s a rainy day ................................................................. 18

The Good Times (Memories of Khandala)............................. 20

The Rain at 4 AM ................................................................... 23

Ungrateful .............................................................................. 25

Moments ............................................................................... 27

Once in a While ..................................................................... 28

Pursuit of Comfort ................................................................. 30

Rain Blue Eyes...................................................................... 32

Some Poems ........................................................................ 33

Let Me Die ............................................................................. 35

Slipping .................................................................................. 37

All Things Past ...................................................................... 39

Forever Wish List .................................................................. 40

Some Things ......................................................................... 42

Like a Winter Morning ............................................................ 43

Midnight ................................................................................. 44

This Winter ............................................................................ 46

My Moment ............................................................................ 47

You Drift ................................................................................. 49

In My Corner .......................................................................... 50

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Untouched ............................................................................. 52

Every Moment ....................................................................... 54

What does it matter ............................................................... 55

February Romance ............................................................... 57

Satin visions .......................................................................... 58

Midnight Prayer ...................................................................... 59

Picture Perfect Afternoon ...................................................... 61

Tell Me ................................................................................... 63

To the World .......................................................................... 65

Mystical ................................................................................. 66

Night Soul .............................................................................. 67

Savoring Poetry ..................................................................... 69

A Normal Life ......................................................................... 70

Sunday Evenings .................................................................. 72

No Proclamations .................................................................. 74

Just a Smidgen ..................................................................... 75

Walking Tall ........................................................................... 77

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PPPPPoetry Ioetry Ioetry Ioetry Ioetry In My Heartn My Heartn My Heartn My Heartn My Heart

When poetry

finds my heart

I am suddenly

the empress of the world

I sleep as a rock

and wake up as a mountain

I pause as a seed

and burst into silk floss trees

I stream through silence

ripple into whispers, and swell into a song

I begin as a single snowflake

and end in an avalanche

life continually flows

through my fingertips,

like fortune through a talisman

I am suddenly vulnerable

and invincible all at once

I blink January’s lashes

and gush down December’s cheeks

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I float as an orphan

and descend with family wings

I wait by solitude’s window

and then flee,

like confetti in the winds

I touch with material hands

and feel with a Sufi’s soul

I take birth as a mortal

and die...

as an immortal

I am infinitely yearning,

brimming...overflowing,

in words

and I discover, it’s another way

for me...to be in tears

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TTTTTonight’onight’onight’onight’onight’s Moons Moons Moons Moons Moon

Tonight’s moon...is just the kind of moon

that i had been hoping for

the full-orbed, incandescent pearl

against a Turkish eye-blue sky

with the creamy haloed breath,

with a few curious children

of clouds, flitting over to see

what all the mystique is about

with some stars dusted in

for good measure

tonight’s moon...is just the moon

that makes the sleeping birds,

look like treasures,

and the ocean...

full of silver-inked love poems,

the kind that always tips me over,

into magical realms

folklores, and parables,

childhood and cherry blossoms

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the kind that would go well

with hot chocolate, or sweet wine

nostalgia or grief,

the moon that...

softens gazes, and smoothens hands

and steers feet,

that have nowhere to go

the kind of moon

that I’d boast around

to my solitude

kiss upon my pillow,

and squeeze to my chest

like a precious pet

the kind that I would want to

to send back to my ancestors

and gift to my descendants

so they know that I too,

have been bruised...by beauty,

the kind of moon...that just aches

to be touched...with poetry

the moon... that I want to

gaze up at, until my neck begins to hurt,

and heels begin to crack,

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until my eyes cannot take in..

something so heartbreakingly beautiful

anymore

the moon that I want to...

press my cheek against

and cry.

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Beautiful MomentBeautiful MomentBeautiful MomentBeautiful MomentBeautiful Moment

Today...you are just a wraith

upon the winds...

oh Beautiful Moment!

just a wraith...

a mere flashlight

...of a kiss

a vanishing steam

off my heart’s coffee

a mere blink,

of babyhood

you are perhaps...

the Sunday mornings

syruping down my toast

the blush of summer’s cheeks

watering down...to a photograph

the lingering grace of a gazelle..

in an empty savannah

you are...

as fleetingly beautiful

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as a mother’s tears,

and a father’s pranks

a brother’s bachelorhood

and a best friend’s bad mood

a bride’s glittering jitters

and a handsome stranger’s smile

you are perhaps...

the long-haired,

ageless copper red beauty

disappearing...into the horizon

wing-marks left in the sky

by a favorite bird

memories...

puffing away

at the soul’s cigarette

simply passing...

like my name

upon time’s misty lips

today, you may just be

a vapour

tomorrow,

you will be a poem.

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TTTTThoshoshoshoshose Wordse Wordse Wordse Wordse Words

They have been whispered...

for centuries, and handed down...generations

endorsed by sunrises, sunsets

and embodied under thunderstorms

fruited on winter trees...

and chanted by chocolates,

forested...

by faith

those same words...

now resounding...in my ear,

...

Don’t lose heart

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Ungrateful

It would be best to term me

as the ungrateful one,

a terminal grouch,

hopelessly incurable...

forever whining

that i cannot cup the stars

against my face,

whisper...in their ear,

a name...that tickles my lips

that i cannot fly away

with the seagulls, high-five the skies

like the tide at noon,

that I cannot comfort

a romance novel’s handsome,

heartbroken hero, touch his cheek. . .

cannot make my home

in a robin’s nest,

stay curled and cosied

and chocolated....forever,

in my mother’s arms,

for i cannot always make autumn

walk beside me like a friend,

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and make the moon, kiss-soothe

my worn out shoulders at all times,

for daddy won’t always be

strong enough to do

a thousand crunches every day,

and Princes won’t always be

all that charming,

for I won’t always be lucky

to make sure everyone’s safely

tucked away for the night

for all I can really do is, stand here

in September’s rain, savoring…

soaking it all in..

slipping, and simply

holding on to poetry, for dear life.

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Pursuit of ComfortPursuit of ComfortPursuit of ComfortPursuit of ComfortPursuit of Comfort

I could lie starfish-spread

in the sands for hours

just lie there until...

twilight comes

or until my sadness... begins to float..

into soap bubbles

and balloons

until my soul is permanently

perfumed with the sea...

or maybe I could sit beside

an old friend, in an old park, pouring myself

in alternating flower-bursts

of joys and sorrows....

I could just sing

until the tragic opera music

of my heart....blossoms

into a blissful ballad of the 90’s

melt into marshmallows..

and dark chocolate and coffee

until my only worry

...is the calories I’m consuming

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wrap myself...onto the rain

in jubilation and remembrance

and mourning...of what’s gone

or just allow my own solitude,

to be my truest companion

but for the greatest

comfort of all...I could just wait...

until the world is tucked in...for the night

until the moon... is cool

on my cheeks

and then quietly, caress...

a stranger’s poem...in my arms

and whisper, ‘You just saved my life’.

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Midnight PrayerMidnight PrayerMidnight PrayerMidnight PrayerMidnight Prayer

Let my gaze always.. be gentle

gentle....as i would lay a blanket

on a sleeping baby

let my spoken words always

be soft...harmless,

a blunt knife spreading

marmalade...on the toast

of another’s life....

my promises....

a sun-fresh farm ...in the southlands,

forever ...in their harvesting season

my touch...always tender...

as i would stroke... mother’s cheek

when she cried

my embrace...always warm, eternal

as i would hold on to a life

that was slipping away...

let my own tears...be like

each precious strand of saffron.....

that someone might keep

my journey through each moment

as i would look up in wide-eyed

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wonder... at the desert sky,

laugh among friends..dance

in front of the mirror

my faith...at the end of the day

a hummingbird...returning

to its favorite flower

let my heart always be

like it is...this very moment

ready to explode...with love

a violent rainstorm...

with no stream

no ocean vast enough

to flow into.

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Picture PPicture PPicture PPicture PPicture Perfect Afternoonerfect Afternoonerfect Afternoonerfect Afternoonerfect Afternoon

It must have been the glow

of the mango warm, afternoon sun,

seeping in, through the drawn curtains,

that suddenly made me

stop in my tracks, and wish

that every afternoon of life

could be like this,

with father relishing

such a heartily full stomach

that he must not be allowed

a nap for at least an hour

and mother bumbling around

with frizzy hair, leaving a scented

trail of Lorea’l shampoo and

fresh laundry,

with my brother sprawled

on the sofa, watching random

movies running on television

the windowsill sprinkled with a few

fluffy pigeons, waiting to be fed

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the air around me,

all snugly and sleepy

and with me, mentally

bingeing on donuts, whilst gazing out

at the wildly glittering sea,

just standing there...

with my arms open...and embracing

the world with all its sins and flaws,

at utter peace, with myself,

as though forgiving an old friend.