Aimless Restless Evenings

Aimless restless evenings 
lead to peaceless calmless nights
shapeless hopeless mornings follow
that baseless endless afternoons build upon
and this ceaseless cycle of ennui repeats.
Today somewhere a song plays
'Live is life'
Later they'll say I had smiled.

Tha ek kagaz kora sa

Tha ek kagaz kora sa, 
kuch dhabbe roshnaii ke
umad'te arzoo-on ki khalish, 
kuch khaab rihaee ke

ik nigaah palat'ti hui 
pard'on mein simat'tee hui
kuch inayat hasrat ki, 
kuch pinjare duhaee ke

dooobti hain khwahishain
Girne se us nigaah ke, 
faaslon mein dard ke
hausle qaraar ke

pareshan hai kehkashaan
dil lage sambhaal ke
daud na jaye phir se ye
Lamhe chand visaal ke

Koi karta nahin vaada nibhaane ko

koi karta nahin vaada yahan nibhaane ko 
aur bhool se jaan leta hoon main zamane ko 

Jo baha aaya tha main samandar mein 
wo tere khat aaj laute mujhe jalaane ko 

tere peeche kisi se roothta bhi nahin 
ab na aayega koi mujhe manaane ko 

pata hi nahin kab saans rok di meri wo haath aaye thhey sar dabaane ko 

vehshat hoti hai jab khamoshiyon mein 
bachchon se kehta hoon shor machaane ko 

humare darmiyaan faasle ki kami na thi 
so main bhi chal padaa use mitaane ko 

'Quateel' koi rasta nikalo ki manzilein 
milti nahin raaston ke diwaane ko

Ibn e Maryam hua kare koi

"Ibn e mariyam hua kare koi
Mere dukh ki dawaa kare koi"

Sar e aam kuch hota hi nahin
sab se chhupke mila kare koi

Ghamgeen kayii fasaane hain
hans ker mila kare koi

Ujalat mein hai yahi hasrat
Mere liye bhi sajaa kare koi

Diljooi ki tawakko nahin yaaron
Khoon e dil kab tak saha kare koi

Kehte hain ki main zinda hoon
Mujhsa na maraa kare koi
----------------------------------

matlaa Mirza Asadullah Khan 'Ghalib' ka hai. baaki ke ashaar mere.

Jaane de

Le le dhadkan dil se, shauq e nazar jaane de
'Pahle maazi ka koi zakhm to bhar jane de'

Doobta sooraj kehta hai har kinare se
Chhod saath mera mujhko ghar jaane de

Aaya hoon duniya mein ek khayal ban ke
Hain khushboo mere khaab bikhar jaane de 

Gaate hue ik deewana guzra galee se uski
kaise batlaaye zubaan us per asar, jaane de

Baat zubaan ki hai Quateel baat behr ki hai
Seekh bhi jaayega tu magar jaane de

Duniya mujhse door

Duniya mujhse door chalee jaa rahi hai
Jaate jaate mujhse khulee jaa rahi hai

Rishta to sar e aam mar gaya tha
Kyun dil mein chitaa jalee jaa rahi hai

Na likhi ho apni mulaqaat phir bhi 
Ek dastaan dekho banii jaa rahi hai

Aaj jhoothe vaade sa ise tootna hai
kamar zapt ki yun kasii jaa rahi hai

Parastish ki aagosh mein aa ke dekha
Zanjeer ibaadat ki khuli jaa rahi hai

beshaoor guzara sabhi ka ho gaya hai
Koyal raat mein bhi gaaye jaa rahi hai

Meri zindagi ke parde per ye duniya
Roz nayi film dikhaye jaa rahi hai

Why do i walk barefoot

Why do I walk barefoot
On the carpet of nettles
Of your memories?

Some escape inside
And travel upwards
Where my broken
Heart lies

They meet others
like them there from before
And join hands
To build a fence

A barbed fence that
Imprisons me
and holds me
In constricting embrace

None can enter
Nothing escape

Ilzaam

Kya mere dil ka tujhper upkaar nahin
Isko Tere siva kisi se sarokaar nahin

Dua kar mera jee laga rahe tujhmein 
Mere jaisa doosra parastaar nahin

Ye ishq hai ya ehsaan hai tu hi bataa
Sach jo bhi ho mujhe inkaar nahin

Tinkon se jo sirf ghonsla bana paaye
Mazdoor kehte hain use fankaar nahin

Jhukne waala sar ye jaanta hai
Use ghuroor ki koi darkaar nahin

Meri baat ke chauntis matlab hote hain
Iska teen nahin to uska chaar nahin

Doughnut khaate khaate ye khayal aaya
Iske markaz mein bhi sarkaar nahi

Dont Talk. Just Text.

A word that doesn’t come out right

Is the one that starts the fight

Said in one, taken in another context

Henceforth don’t talk. Just text

I’ll be waiting by the phone’s screen

Heart a flutter and thumbs twitchy

Emoticons provide an easy subtext

Yes, let’s not talk. Just text

Unshadowed by tone let meaning prevail

when windless our words set sail

Neither are you lost nor am I vexed

If you don’t talk. Just text

Inattention is never a bone and

eye contact no matter of pride

when presence goes , voice goes next

so I tell you don’t talk. Just text

Cool as us, under the sky of separation

And of course when we’re together

Love is a given and needs no pretext

Unspoken words are after all just text.

Prismatic eyes

I stare into your prismatic eyes
Sear my sight searching
For the truth proves refractory
All that comes forth
from white unbroken light
Is a pure white lie

Sept 2012

Jiske haath jitna aaye utna wo le jaaye

Jiske haath jitna aye utna wo le jaaye
maal sarkari ho to hissa kaun lagaaye

Marta hai to mareez mar bhi jaaye
Maseeha hain so rahe kaun jagaaye

Muflis musalmaan jo ho jaaye
Wo phir bechaara bhi na kehlaaye

Putla banao to pathhar ka yaaro
Lohe ko zang akhir khaa hi jaaye

Sadte jhooth khoob hain sab nigal rahe
Pet ek din phool ke phat na jaaye

Lafzon mein zeher utartaa kyun nahin
Ragon mein ise kab tak koi daudaaye

Aye jo poochne log ustaad ke usko
'Quateel' sar jhukaaye bas muskuraaye

Pompey Pompeii

I will play Pompeii and tell you just this much...

Gods don't favour labours of the common home
Nor Campainian upstarts against regal Rome

You can ask the aristocrats of our time
Syllas, Julians, Pius's stand and mime

Stories that Nola and Capua always knew
Which in time and telling grew

Short life everlasting tragic fame
Is the lot of the Pompeii name

One day my last happy heart was broken
And then Vesuvius for a task awoken.

Quateel Ahmad
May 4, 2013

Teri judai ka mujhko gila nahin...

Teri judaai ka mujhe koi gilaa nahin
Ye gham kisi aur ko to milaa nahin

Mere bharose ko khoob todte rahe
Main us se oob gaya tha hila nahin

Sare kaam baa tarteeb ba asool hon
Ab tak aisa mauka mujhe mila nahin

Saanvle log rang nahin badal paate
Ye raaz mujh par abhi khula nahin

Tera ishq bada kamzarf hai 'Quateel'
Marta hai marne de ise jilaa nahin

Quateel Ahmad
1 April 2013

Drought

In the unpromising unforgiving sky 
puffs of distant high vapours
at once native and alien like
inspectors of worth and value
that breeze out without remark

far below these hopeless shrouds
are human heads, covered and bare
but no gaze rises with expectation
seeking the dark laden armada 

the merciless sun shines, making it impossible to hide
heads bowed, held in hands plainly
gaze firmly fixed on the earth
blaming it for being so stupid
to need rain, to need clouds
those vagabonds of no fixed address
of no fidelity or virtue

the labours of the blamers
done in by truant beneficience
the canals that were dug
with hope aided by science 
now serve only to flood homes
with furrowed brows and plain despair

in this land hope lies fallow and like a signal of the end 
from the eye to the cheek
the only descent of moisture bends



First posted Jan 2011

My Monsoon

And the night begets more rain
rays of stark dark water
The shoots of life
Descending
With little gusto
To meet muddy ends
Sinking hope of life in earth again

Patter prevails
Ennui ensues
And obliterates
Something of the
Lighter notes
of my being
The fetid smell of me
tired beyond a freshing recourse

But shortly I am refreshed
Its the same patter that revives
And fills the heart with happiness
And now I think
You can take all the sunsets by the shore
Valleys like of Paradise itself
Rolling meadows and dales
Snowcapped mountains and all
That is deemed most beautiful

And yet cannot for me match
the sounds and smell of the monsoon
When it finally arrives
bearing down on my doors and windows
Forcing itself in every crevice it can find
To water my soul and nourish my mind

Quateel Ahmad

Kya nahin rehta

Saadabayaani mein uski kya kya nahin rehta
Maani hai ek waazeh to dujaa nahin rehta

Main uske chhall ka zikr karun to phir kahaan
Miley wo ghar jaa bhakt uska nahin rehta

Khaamiyaan hain mujhmein bhi par ye nahin
Jidhar ka pata diya hai wahaan nahin rehta

kin farebon ke supurd kiya gham e hayaat ne
Ujaala nahin hota ke andhera nahin rehta

Chup gaya dekar mujhko zindagi ki kitaab wo
Lafz aisa nahin jisme pata uska nahin rehta

Quateel Ahmad
March 14, 2013

March of the Mango People

Ek damaad ne is mulk ke aam logon ko 'Mango People' kaha tha.... Ye uspar likha tha...

Naye raaste se manzil ko aaj chalo
Guzre kal ko bhulaa ke aaj chalo

Aage chalo peeche ya saath chalo
Phir kabhi na sahi per aaj chalo

Le ke haathon mein tum haath chalo
Kal na pachhtaana ho to aaj chalo

Ban ke hasrat tum betaab chalo
Bahaa do sab, ban ke sailaab chalo

Anginat niklo behisaab chalo
Lautaane aankhon mein hain khaab chalo

Mulk ho gaya hai bezaar chalo
Aur kitne sahoge ispe vaar chalo

Naunehaalon tumhi ho sartaaj chalo
Looteron se cheen lein aao raaj chalo

Quateel Ahmad
17 October 2012

I Am Black

There is a leitmotif
Of arrogance and ignorance
In your honest friendly nature
You want to erase all sense
Of impropriety and savage conduct
by giving me new appellations

I used to be known as a negro
Or Black
or colored even
for those who wanted to
Capture the varying shades
Of my beautiful existence

But they made it hell
Picked on, slaved, beaten
Raped, murdered and sold
all because they could.
All this while they were saving my soul
With their own god and ways

I didn't mind
I came to this big country
Which I first landed on
with fettered feet
But when I sang
God listened
When I walked
Breeze was born
And when I ran
Deer looked at me with awe
I was a specimen like no other
In chains when no one else was
I was black and that was that

That was a long time ago
And today I am as much a part
Of this land as any other
The bones of my great ancestors
Is in this earth
Rivers here I have bathed in
Fields tilled and fish caught
animals reared and slaughtered
Married and children begot

Then some kind souls want to
Wash away old sins of others
Make me want to forget the torments
Linked with my black negro being
Decide to call me African American

I am at once proud of my proud lineage
My people, Africa and a smile
Till I think about it.

Is my being American
not halved by being called thus
Is this any way to address people
Most who have never been to Africa

Chinese Amercian, Asian American,
Japanese American, Indian, Pakistani,
What lies behind these names?
Are citizens of Indian, Pakistani and Latino
race not American?
Why is a person Chinese American yet another African American? Does it matter if Chinese are confused with Korean American, Hmong and Vietnamese or Filipino...

But more than anything else
Why don't we have Irish Americans,
Italian Americans, German Americans,
French Americans, Polish Americans
Czech Americans and of course English Americans

They are all simply described as white
Or even more simply as Americans.

So I would rather be called a black American.
Or just an American
I am from here and nowhere else
I am not going to be caught up in platitudes
created by weak or evil minds

So I have decided that I will write my name
And my colour is for all to see
Don't nigger me for I am Black
And the world is happily black brown yellow red and white
And all shades in between.

ODE TO JOY

And this is how the story went
From lofty palace to tattered tent
A wave had risen unexplained
Of Joy strong jagged unplaned

It just ran right through the world
Bowed rivers great and brooks curl'd
In mountains of snow skin and fire blood
Through fecund fields of redding mud
Grew to be like an endless shore
Then came and sat on Heart's floor
Who let it rule from that small deep seat
And other Emotions felt unjust the treat
Joy was restless it needed space
To break the walls and be a flighty grace
Sorrow vowed to change make
To run Joy out and its place take
Fear and Despair flew Sorrow's banner
Anxiety and Pain in similar manner
Joy the strongest took no heed
A friend the wanderer didn't need
Since then the battle rages on
Joy leaves the heart and is unbound
Still it reigns when it returns
Sorrow and Joy rule Heart by turns
Quateel Ahmad
Dec 2011