Rafey Habib Poems

One day you will not be there, sitting
on your armchair, cutting coriander, as I sit
On the sofa with my laptop, typing
and not talking. One day I will need you
...

Who, through the deep cloud
Commands, in
Infinite Lordship;
Brooding
...

For one moment, you lived
Lived in the knowledge of death.
As the snow falls through the universe,
One look, one form at the garden's edge, one poor boy
...

A journey, broken
By night and thought
Of warring gods;
desert rock and sand conspired
...

Perhaps this is the way
Our world will end: not
In biblical flood, or burning
Apocalypse, but in deep beauty:
...

Enshrouded in the high mantle of night.
The darkness of idols, greed in business,
Abuse of orphans, widows, women.
...

Here, within your white, white walls
I can stand
Alone with You, the Alone;
...

Glorious are You, in Your
Aloneness, your
Pale eternal splendour
Beckons, in whose
...

Neda.

Sweet voice,
Of freedom, unborn.

Your state totters.
...

You think you are modern.
You think you are tolerant, humane, enlightened
Beyond the benighted reign
Of other-worldly groping
...