Poetry contributions
I Found You
The world has become my enemy
But in the wilderness I found You
My friends have become strangers
But in the silence I found You
I no longer know who I am
But in the confusion, there was You.
He said the way of love is hard
But in the hardship, I found You.
Bahar
Hush
He placed a finger upon my lips and said
Hush....
He lifted my chin to look at the stars and said
Hush...
He moved a curl of hair from before my eyes and said
Hush
What is your rush?
Hush...
Bahar
So I'm crazy they say to run in the snow
But in the glistening fields there's a secret to know
Every snowflake knows that life will pass
He enjoys every moment glistening on the grass
Hear the mountains calling in their towering heights
Come, come and join us, they seductively cry
The geese in their gathering watch and wait
For the Lord to appear and open His gates
The busy insects plough on through the frost
Purposeful, tireless content with their lot
The mud as it splashes with a joyous sound
Understands the freedom that is all around
For the wild spirited ones who longs for release
Go take to the mountains, be one, run free.
Bahar
Before You.......
Before I met you I was a lump of clay under the potters bench.
I was a dusty guitar left on a shelf, a harp with no one to play me.
Before you my ocean wide but shallow, my nights long, holding
no secrets, my days earned no livelihood.
Before you a mere curiosity imprisoned in a carcass.
Before you a baby yearning for a breast of knowledge, a sheep
with no shepherd.
Since you arrived in my life, a precious gift from the fountain of
Love.
your light bathes my garden,
your heart draws me closer,
your smile melts my worries,
your eyes my guiding stars,
your breath is the wind in my sails, oh Beloved where next will
you cast me.....
Riaz
Running to Him
The desire came to remove my shoes and walk the dusty track,
For it was to become a sacred path leading to where we both sat.
In the solitude of the hills, I caught his scent briefly,
As we sat and admired the view.
He pointed with his stick and asked "What do you see?"
How I longed to say "Only You"
To see His face in all He creates
Is that not what the lovers desire?
Bahar
Night of Power:
Don't go back to sleep...
The parched earth becomes drunk on ecstasy tonight.
Don't go to back to sleep...
Draw out your empty vase the monsoon is coming,
for only the fools sleeps with the vase bottom up.
Don't go back to sleep ...
For tonight this abode has no room for darkness, separation and slumber
but only for unity with the beloved in one breath.
Don't go back to sleep.
Roses with no thorns just for tonight.
Don't go back to sleep.
Sleep for a thousand months but not tonight,
for tonight there is a knock at every door, a knock from the inside!
For my end is my beginning, to arrive to a place where we started
but to know it for the first time.
Don't go back to sleep....
Riaz Sharif
Before You
Before I met you I was a lump of clay under the potters bench.
Before you I was a dusty guitar left on a shelf.
Before you I was a harp with no one to play me.
Before you my ocean was wide but shallow,
my nights long, holding no secrets,
my days earned no livelihood.
Before you a mere curiosity imprisoned in a carcass.
Before you I was a monograph with absent pages, words that had no meaning.
Before you a baby yearning for a breast of knowledge.
Before you a sheep with no shepherd.
Since you arrived in my life, a precious gift from the fountain of Love.
your light bathes my garden,
your heart draws me closer,
your smile melts my worries,
your breath is the wind in my sails, oh beloved where next will you cast me.
Welcome back my beloved Shams.
Riaz Sharif
The Hospital Corridor
Turn left down the corridor life is being born
Turn right down the corridor life is departing
What is life but a passage from one end of the corridor to the other.
Riaz Sharif
A Glimpse
A glimpse of his eyes
Warms me inside
It's the way they smile
Feels like home for a while.
Bahar Tadikonda
So This is What it Means
So this is what it means to stand naked before you
Asking for a crumb from your table
Asking to be clothed
Waiting for an invitation to the feast.
Bahar Tadikonda
Diamonds and Pearls
Diamonds and pearls entice many girls,
But wood and shells hold a secret as well;
For in simplicity there lies a wealth untold,
Beyond that of silver and mountains of gold.
Bahar Tadikonda
Husam Dyson
GUIDE
Oh Jamil!
You are our Mevlana!
You are our Shams-I-Tabrizi!
You are our Hope of Salvation!
Forgive me, I beg you
For my errors and disobedience,
Too numerous to list and
Too shameful to recount.
May my heart break into pieces
To attain your loving glance.
From sinning, a host of knives cut me inside.
A thousand opportunities have I wasted.
A thousand wrong turnings have I taken.
When will I be worthy to be a mureed of such a guide?
GAZE
Almond eyes gaze lovingly into mine,
Invitations to tarry awhile.
But surely it's not me that she sees?
No,
It can only be the glow of Mevlana
That she sees.
It's not me,
It is He.
How could such a beauty perceive in me
Something worthwhile,
Deserving such a smile!
Once the sweet spell of Mevlana is gone,
What will she see?
Only me,
A somewhat shabby man,
Certainly not He.
HEARTS
These women with hearts on fire,
Have shown me what I require
To be a mureed.
No holding back,
Just Love's sweet devotion and
A heart washed by tears.
You held out your hand so often to me,
Offering hope of Eternity.
Why did I not see?
This way and that I went,
Thinking that I knew best!
Now before it's too late,
I must not hesitate,
In running back to follow your true track,
To attain the Truth I lack.
I have been such a fool,
To let such chances slip from my grasp.
Always offering,
Always giving,
My stupidity alas
Always winning.
But now I run back,
With the loyalty
I shamefully did lack.
Too late?
I pray not.
OPPOSITES
It is said that Love,
Has an opposite called Hate.
But I hear a voice within say;
Wait!
Isn't Hate just a stage of Love,
Dividing in order to make sweet,
The union when Lovers meet.
Isn't there only Love?
No illusion called Hate.
Furthermore with Love,
It's never too late!
HAPPY BAND
Oh happy band we,
Dancing along icy streets.
Following the Guide,
Feeling so alive.
Like children sweet,
Wings upon our feet.
Now with tears in my eyes
And full of longing sighs,
I picture in my mind .
Those days of hearts alive.
What a life to lead,
Breathing the atmosphere of Love
In such company as this!
Two Loving Hearts
Shh, let's not talk tonight,
let's offer this dance to our hearts.
Come close, closer, don't be shy.
Press your heart here........against mine.
Are you the sun and I the moon, or I the sun and you the moon.
The rose loves its fragrance and the fragrance loves the rose.
Does one exist without the other.
Shh, let's not talk tonight
Riaz Sharif
Deep in the heart of the oceans breast
Lies a tattered old wooden treasure chest
The key is guarded from the insincere
For the true lover though, there is nothing to fear
From the majesty He shows through the leap of the whale
To the hidden letters of the sea snails trail
All mighty, all knowing, most merciful Lord
The waves whisper your name as the caress the shore
This bowl is empty waiting to see
What treasure is hidden in the deep beneath
Bahar
For your fingertips the strings of the harp are longing,
Your breath within the void the flute is long desiring.
An expectant drum is waiting to unleash your rhythm,
The piano's ivory keys are eager for life to be given.
An orchestra desperate for musical cadences to flow,
An audience straining to see the silver haired maestro.
A wide eyed bewildered child waiting to sing along,
All ready to become united as one voice, one song.
Bahar (with some suggestions by Jamil)
The following are an outpouring of feelings by Bahar on hearing news of Jamil being
in hospital after a stroke.
Despair
Put one foot in front of the other and walk
Breathe in breathe out, talk.
Put the toothpaste on a toothbrush
Keep going, you must.
But stop time, stop the spinning of our world
I just want to be with him
I just want to be with him
Not Yet
I can't breathe,
Is it true
Allah took you for a while
Did He hear me screaming in the hills
Please don't take him yet.
I can't breathe
Don't leave
Not yet.
Dance without End.
He is the North, the south, the east and west
A towering mountain, cradling the eagles nest
He is the sun, the moon the stars
He is the heartbeat of this broken heart
This life will now, his patience try
But raise your eyes we are dancing in the sky
Gently swaying amongst the pink tinged clouds
Together forever beyond the noise and the crowd
So as these days of hardship descend
Come join me Murshid in our dance without end.
There Was a Cave
There was a cave, dark and grave
Only entered by the brave
There was a stone it's treasure unknown
Until He raised it from the earth to be shown
The was a pearl, in a beautiful girl
Yet her beauty did eclipse
The real delight lay hidden from sight
In the heart of the hearts not her ruby lips
There was a dog who found a bone
He buried it and called the place home
There was a light in a faraway land
This only Jamil will understand
There is a game that we lovers play
Kiss chase so they say.
There is a door with his name in gold
Where the bluebirds sing their psalms of old
There is a man who lives inside
My beloved murshid rise rise rise.
Shams and Mevlana
From Mevlana did Shams depart one day
Tearing his body and presence away
Knowing the cost upon Rumi's mind
Allah parted them so that the truth he would find
In His wisdom and mercy He shook this world
Ripping open the seams of this empty purse
In pain and longing gold coins rained down
On the Zahuri Order for those who found
The thought of his absence to much to bear
For in the depths of grief, the Beloved was there
Then back to Mevlana, Shams did return
In the sorrow of parting great lessons learnt
Lay your Head on this Heart
Lay your head upon my chest
I will stroke your hair as you learn to rest
Ash Shafi will be come in His own time
For now, Lay you head on this heart of mine
Seek Me
Seek me in everything that you see Bahar
In the stone in the mountain
In the raindrop, in the sea
Seek me in everything that you see Bahar
Heartbroken Lover
The grief the loss it knew no bounds
Despair eched around a war stripped town
Then to this lover he did return
Though where he had been she could not discern
With every atom she longed for him
With every breath she pleaded within
For one more moment, for the flash of his name
His heartbroken lover will never be the same
You Asked
You asked where I am?
Did you not see the breeze etch 'I love you' in the sand.
You asked me why you cannot feel your hand in mine?
You didn't notice your fingers for a moment intertwined?
You asked why your questions I never answer?
Did you not receive my words through the lips of a passing stranger?
You ask why I don't comfort you in your hour of need?
I sent someone to hold you and angel to oversee.
You say you want to remember me?
Look around you,
I am in everything you see!
Every colour, every rainbow, every cloud,
Every scent, every tear, every sound.
You say that you Love me
Then come, spare a moment to sit beneath this tree,
Watch the leaves, hear the birds,
And learn that you are me.
We Went
We went for a little walk today
He took my hand for part of the way
Formality and rituals dispensed for a time
We talked of Him and love divine
He showed me the lavender in the bleak housing estate
How the bees work tirelessly on the purpose He gave
He showed me kindness through charity
Showed me tenderness as the wind stroked my cheek
He showed me our union by answering a question
Before the words had even been mentioned
He lifted my spirits with our stroll together
A beautiful rainbow in the stormy weather
Bahar