Neela Stay Poem by Emdad Shah Emdad

by Emdad Shah

Neela, gaze not upon me so
In this long silver fiery night
Seek not within the wakeful blue
On high, to find a borrowed light

When sharp and bitter pangs assail
And pierce this weary heart of mine
Desert me not in solitude
To falter where the shadows pine

Restrain thy steps, control thy flight And check the wandering of thy feet Nor shroud thy face in heavy clouds
Where dark and drifting tempests meet.

And plunge me not in azure deeps
Nor prove so merciless and cold
Thy eyes are like a chamber dark Where blinding shades of blue enfold

Thy heart floats off on clouds afar
While waves on waves within me break
Oh, leave me not, my final dream
For this last, desperate spirit's sake!

Thy azure yields a barren void
Unslaked desire, and phantom sleep Where unfulfilled regrets awake.

Hark, Neela, blue is not thine own Leave not thy blue upon the sea
I die; oh, come at last to me
And see the end that waits for thee

Beneath one roof let shelter be
And green the earth, and blue the skies
Cast all the seven seas away
And all the rivers' restless sighs

Come closer, closer to my side
Forget the world, whate'er betide.

O azure bird, my Neela, come
Into the depths, yet deeper still
Beyond the gentle veil of earth
Where none shall know, and none shall chill

Take thought of nought, but rest with me
Behold, the world is locked in sleep Come close, as close as breath can be Where flowers bloom and cease to weep

Where oceans halt their roaring tide, Where rivers lose their wandering pride
Where skies are empty, vast, and bare
And deserts wear a mantle green
In slumber deep and unforeseen.

O Neela, are thy eyes not flowers?
Thy lips a rose of crimson hue?
Thy brows the horizon's lonely line Where love is endless, bright, and true?

Thy forehead's mark, a scripture red
Writ deep upon a bleeding heart!
Oh, float me not on beauty's wave Only to force our souls apart.

Upon thy eyelids, stars of light
Are walking in a silver grace
A waterfall of gleaming pearls
Where long locks shadow all thy face

I am a monsoonal rain
That bathes within that mystic stream A spring of crimson, rushing flood
A diver in a frozen dream
Smile not upon me with those dimples sweet
Lest I should drown where blue and azure meet!

How oft I died because of thy disdain
Yet lived again to see thy gentle smile
The vast and shoreless oceans of the main
Could never measure all my grief the while

The silent tears that overflowed my breast
Could flood a desert's dry and thirsty heart
Yet deeper than the seas where monsters rest
Are depths where I must wander and depart.

The lonely nights I waked and watched for thee
The heavy sighs I breathed into the air
Could join the broken stars across the sea
And mend the shattered heavens in despair
No endless time could count the silent hours

I waited for thy footsteps on the floor
I drifted in the void, through shadow-bowers
Till memory cast me on a lonely shore.

And all the pain of unrequited love
Is stored in words I never dared to speak
Only a lengthening shadow from above
And one eternal watching, worn and weak!