Saqi Farooqi
SIX POEMS
MISTRESS
He was terribly lonesome.
With the broken razor of his impotence
he slit his jugular vein.
His death is an auspicious sign;
don't let it get you down.
With your patience
iron out the wrinkles in the pallid sheet
of your widowhood,
then tuck it away in the closet of neglect.
Now that you are free of fears,
celebrate the day of deliverance.
Don't give the world a thought.
Your body holds many a promise.
Oh, stop this caterwaul!
(Translated by Faruq Hassan & C. M. Nairn)
THAT I MAY REACH THE ISLAND
Moon-stricken,
bereft of any desire,
caught on the fish-hook of a moonbeam,
I lie on the surface of water
half-benumbed,
motionless like a dead wave ....
Let the breeze move
that I may feel
the shores' kisses.
(Translated by Faruq Hassan)
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