Lingering Moments Poem by Muhammad Shanazar

I know not why the nights are tangled in my loneliness,
I know not why the winds have stopped
With no reason apparent,
I know not why silences are lamenting all around,
I know not why warm breathings
Of the sky lie dispersed.
Mingled in voices of haunting silences;
Are days gone by,
Dejection of the birds of desires,
Singed throws of wind sprawled on waves
Stifled sighs of my smouldering existence.

Passing across the lakes of open eyes
Where do the dreams go flying?
Why in moments of retreat of this night
Are the windows of stars still open?
Why do the watering spots of my eyes lie dry?
Why are the streams of my desires restless?
Gathering darkness of the sky
Grabs the rising moon,
I hear your imagination will descend
On my house to burst in whirling dance,
But where are the symbols, the rhythm of trinkets,
Neither melody of a flute nor jingles of anklets

Where is Radha and where is Kanehya?
Where are the dancing thuds of Gopies?
The night is steadily waning,
The sky has begun turning his sides,
Trayful dreams are advancing,
Bequeathing hopes to the tired eyes,
And reviving forsaken memories of the past.
This night too has departed evoking hopes.

Written by Jagdish Prakash (India)
Translated by Muhammad Shanazar (Pakistan)