Poetry

y- photo

 

By

Sohail Mahmood

 

 

 

The Yearning for the day

 

 

Yearning for the divine experience

In mediation

In prayer

In the solitude of the late night

In total privacy

In state of prayer

When it will happen?

When will it happen?

 

The divine experience

Nothing equals it

It is beyond time and space

 

Longing for it

Yearning for it

 

Longing for it

Yearning for it

 

I am surely a spirit caged in a human body

 

Caged in a human body

 

How I yearn to be free

 

To be free

 

Once and for all

To fly out

 

To be free of my captivity

 

Once and for all

To fly out

 

Alas! My fate is to remain in the cage

 

Patience

Patience

 

One day I will fly out of the cage

One day it will happen

One day it will happen

 

Oh?

How m much I yearn for that day

For that memento of my freedom

For the moment of my freedom

 

Toe enter paradise

In contentment

In bliss

In happiness

 

For here is so much sorrow here

So much pain

So much cruelty

So much sorrow

So much pain

 

And, also so much injustice

 

So much injustice

 

One day it will end

 

For one day it will surely end

 

I will meet my lord

My creator

 

Enter into paradise

 

With dignity

And pride

 

Eternal bliss

No sorrow

No pain

 

No anxiety

 

No sorrow

No pain

No anxiety

 

Only justice and peace

 

Justice

Peace

 

Bliss

Eternal peace

Eternal bliss

 

One day it will happen

Surely, one day it will happen

 

Yearn for that day

Yearn for that day

 

I have to cross over into the valley of death to reach it

Cross over the valley of death

 

With dignity

And, pride

And faith

And faith in the divine mercy that will carry me

 

Faith in the divine mercy that will carry me

 

Not afraid to enter the valley of death

For beyond it, is another land

So fabulous

Unimaginable

Indescribable

They call it paradise

 

Surely, I will enter it one day

Have faith in divine mercy to make it happen

 

Not for a single moment will I falter

Not for a single moment will I falter

 

Just longing for it

Just longing for it

 

To release me from my captivity

 

To fly out of my cage

For I am a spirit caged in a human body

 

The body shall perish

The spirit will not

 

One day I will escape my captivity

 

Longing for that day

Longing for that day

 

Only you are witness

For I yearn for that day

 

Only you know it

 

The longing of my heart

The longing of my heart

The longing to get rid of my captivity

To enter paradise

 

Yearning for it

Yearning for it

 

The heart desires it

The heart desires it

Nothing else will suffice

Nothing in this world

Nothing in this world

 

The yearning for paradise

 

The yearning for the paradise

 

 

 

 

The Joy of Living

 

 

It is a joy to be alive

Smell the flowers

Feel the first drops of the on the outstretched hand

See the clouds in the blue sky

Notice the birds flying about

See the leaves and the branches of the trees

Feel the wind sway

See the running stream

Walk in the forest

Smell the pine trees

Smell the earth after the rain

It is a joy to be alive

 

See the sunrise

and the sunset

 

See the roar of the oceans

and the wet sand beneath my feet

All times I remember thee

 

Feel the rustle of the dried leaves as I walk on them

Feel the cool breeze

It is a joy to be alive

 

See the moonlight

See the awesome full moon

It is so magical

The soul at peace during the night

The quiet of the night

It is a joy to be alive

To think of thee

To love the

and be loved in return by thee

It is a joy to be alive

In the stillness of the night

 

When all are asleep

and I lay awake thinking of thee

 

and I yearn for thee

and I long for thee

I whisper to myself thine name

No one knows but me

 

It is a secret shared from the universe

No one knows

But I whisper the name to myself

When I am alone

 

Memories of time gone

Sweet memories I do cherish

It is a joy to be alive

It is a joy to be alive

 

The soul at peace within

The radiance shining on everything that I touch

Beauty inside reflected in joy of the heart

A contented heart

That yearns for none but thee

Only thee

Only thee

No one can fill but thee

A fulfilled heart

Content and at peace with world

No desires

No ambitions

Nothing but thine memory

That is enough to sustain me

It is a joy to be alive

It is a joy to be alive

I cherish thine memory

Enough to sustain me

For I will meet thee

I know

Hence, the joy of my heart

It is a joy to be alive

I live to meet thee

I live to meet the

That is the only ambition

The only thing I want

I see thee in everything

All feelings

All sights

All beauty in the universe is but thee

I love to meet the one day

The joy of living in thine memory

No one knows but thee

I and thee are one

In this journey of life

It is joy to be alive

I is a joy to be alive

 

 

 

 

Feeling the pain of life

 

 

Love others not yourself my dearest friend for every one loves himself

What is great in that?

Greatness is to love others

In giving love you gain a world my friend

You receive the pain of love rejected

You receive the pain of lost love

You receive the pain of dejection

But my friend the pain of loss is a must

the pain is part of life itself

what would be life without it

how can you feel happiness without feeling pain

How can you appreciate the joys of life without feeling the pain in it?

A rose but comes with the thorns my friend

The rose delights while the thorn pricking gives pain

They are but one experience my friend

So rejoice in the pain as well as the delight and bliss in your live

For they are two sides of the same coin

One without the other is simply not possible

What is the meaning of light without darkness?

Day without night

Evil without good

Life without death

So my friend live to embrace the pain also

Where there is no pain

Where there is no sorrow

Where there is just love

Just pure love

Where there is just compassion

Where there is just bliss

Where there is no anxiety

No worries

That place exists my dearest friend

We call it paradise

That is not life

We are there not yet

We cannot live here and there

We live in just one place

All that we desire is missing in this life

So my friend learn to accept that love can be rejected

A heart may be broken

There can be life without pain

Like there cannot be night without day

A rain without water

A sea without the dangerous waves

An autumn without the trees shedding their leaves

A winter without cold

So my dear friend life is nothing but a pair of opposites clinging each other in desperation

One without the other makes no sense my friend

So embrace the pain of rejection

The pain of dejection

The pain of lost love

And cry

Cry

Cry

This is life my friend

Just life

Understand this dearest friend

You cannot have one without the other

Such is life

Nothing else

but life itself

We embrace the totality of life

We cannot do otherwise

So my friend cries

You are lucky of u have a shoulder to cry on

Just cry even without one

Such is life

My dearest friend understand

Understand life itself

The pain of life

The pain of life itself

Love it

Live it my friend

Feel the pain

The pain

The pain

 

 

 

 

 

Sohail Mahmood

Sohail Mahmood is an independent global affairs analyst and the author of several books, monographs and research articles on Middle East and South Asian politics, governance and development issues. He has taught for about 30 years in various universities of Pakistan and US and has worked as a consultant for the World Bank, CIDA, SDC, IUCN and UNDP. Sohail is married and has two grown sons. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States.