Poetry

Anant Nath Sharma photo

By

Imran Yousuf

Silenced Words

I opted for a world without words,

I prefer silence,

As Rumi once said,

“Silence is the language of God

All else is poor translation.”

Now I too fall for it.

In words once I happened to believe,

I grew up listening to words and locutions,

“Words harbour mammoth might,”

“Words can alter the course of life,”

“Words alleviate, heal and reconcile.”

Then I realized

I live in a vale where

Words don’t mean a zilch,

Valley where mouths are sewn

With the threads of steel,

Words uttered are scrunched under the heals,

Fingers already maimed

That could hold a pen and pen a word.

I dwell in a vale

Where laments of mother go unheard,

Mewls of sister go breathless,

Every pain, every laceration is subdued,

Each tear gets lost in the

Haze of murky dungeon.

Umpteenth times I strived

To give mouth to this silence

But at last I lost all hope

And remained hushed,

Alike that father

Who lost his sole son

The sun of his gloom,

And is left in the corner of the room

Hopeless, traceless, wordless,

Breathing and waiting for his last

In the world of unbroken silence,

The world without words!

Imran Yousuf

Is a Poet/Writer/Columnist residing in Anantnag, J&K India. He works as Columnist/ Journalist and has contributed to various magazines, journals and international anthologies. He has written a series of articles about great Sufi poets of valley Kashmir (starting from 14th century) published in various newspapers and magazines which he is compiling in a book now and hopefully will be releasing soon.