Some One My Own Poem by Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi

(Dedicated to Daughter Mansoora)

My footprints are found on snow and sand.
I was always seeking 'some on My Own'
everwhere, every season,
and in every country.
I wanted some one whose nearness
could let me feel that
I also deserve the right to live.

If I am alive today, it is not
without some cogent reason.
After a whole life time.

I've come to realize
that the person who seemed
an utter stranger, earlier,
is actually My Own.

The fellow is neither a blood relation,
nor equal in age and yet,
has proved sincere to me
like a lotus flower in water-
a person who offer nothing but love,
a person who gets nothing but love.
(Jan. 1990)

[Translated by Sajjad Shaikh]