Dark Whispers Poem by Famida Basheer

</>So that is how it is!
Its not as if the sun comes up
and the sky is abruptly glorious
and everything suddenly spurts and blooms.
There is a secret that goes on
under cover of your ignorance did you know
as it does throughout the day;

that does its magical finger snapping
that nudges and frolics among all creation
that gently smoothes away the mists
to whisper mantras
that concocts an ever covert potion
to bring forth such beauty.

They are already there in the darkness those things
that we exclaim at in the brilliance of day light.
Those colours in the sky
those fragrances in the meadow
those sea sounds and hill songs
those toe tapping sparkles and twinkles
in the oceans and rivers
that we cannot see at night
all because we assume the night is dark!

How stark our night-eyes that can only see
permanent stars and an inconsistent moon
and harsh man-made lights
that show us again what we had seen by day
anyway.
Ah those blessed few the blind
who can see it all and more
all the time everytime!
No eclipse can stall
their glorious sight!
How blessed the blind!