Allah tum ne hamain aisi zubaan dee hai
jis main guzray din, aanay walay din
ka zirf ek hi naam hota hai. Kal
Jisay kehnay mmain sara moonh khul jaata hai
gallay se le kar daanton tak. kal ka matlab hai
kal vo hamesha k liyay meri ho jaey gi
Is ka matlab ye bhi hai
hamesha k liyay alwida vo ho jaey gi
Donon kal ka matlab ek hi hai.
Muje patta hai tum waqt ko moD saktay ho
main to sirf maang rahoon jo mera hai
meri maan ko muje wapis de do
Siraf is liyay hi k vo meri maan hai.
agar donon kal hai ek hi hain
to meri dharti main daba maan ka phool ko
Dharti se nikalo. kal main crib main thee
meri aankhain bheegi theen, muj ko vo dekh rahi thee
kal man bistray main thee
us se door farsh pe ghust-tee ja rehi thee
jab mera bapu kam e ghar lotaa tha
kal ka matlab hai vo meri shaadi
pe naach rehi hai jo ab tak hui nahin hi
vo meri pehli baar school jaanay k din
mere baalon main tail laga rehi hai
main sunti hoon uski ajeeb awaaz
jab vo rasoee se muje pukaarti hai
meri na-paida hui bachhi ko haathoN main liyay
us ka naam main kya rakhoon
kal vo meri madad karnay main
mun se lagi hui hai.
***
Kal
Fatimah Asghar
Allah, you gave us a language
where yesterday & tomorrow
are the same word. Kal.
A spell cast with the entire
mouth. Back of the throat
to teeth. Tomorrow means I might
have her forever. Yesterday means
I say goodbye, again.
Kal means they are the same.
I know you can bend time.
I am merely asking for what
is mine. Give me my mother for no
other reason than I deserve her.
If yesterday & tomorrow are the same
pluck the flower of my mother's body
from the soil. Kal means I'm in the crib,
eyelashes wet as she looks over me.
Kal means I'm on the bed,
crawling away from her, my father
back from work. Kal means she's
dancing at my wedding not-yet come.
Kal means she's oiling my hair
before the first day of school. Kal
means I wake to her strange voice
in the kitchen. Kal means
she's holding my unborn baby
in her arms, helping me pick a name.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem