To Agha Shahid Ali

I think of you as I stand here;

The flow of a river has never been this serene.

I remember looking at Beas river when I visited Manali.

I looked from the balcony of my hotel window, a good distance away and yet,

The ferocity of the river frightened me.

Now I stand at the edge of the river

And I have never been at peace as I am now.

Is this some magic that you have cast through your words?

Or is it my bias that is dictating my feelings?

We will let it be.

I hold it in my hand;

The thing that is your solace.

I wish you were here today.

It is real, this day.

The Jhelum looks “so clean, so ultramarine”.

The day I came to know you, I promised you that I will take you home,

Didn’t I?

I promised you I will not let Kashmir be abandoned in the mailbox,

And here we are,

I fulfilled my promise.

Now here we are,

This is YOUR home! This is where you belong.

I hold your solace, the postcard from Kashmir.

I know your soul is buried deep in this 16-point type paper

I hold your half-inch Himalayas, Shahid.

Somehow, I do not feel right taking you back to my home with me.

So, I will leave you to it.

I will place you here, on the surface of the Jhelum

And I will let the Jhelum take you

Through your home.

Let me place a kiss on this snow globe

Let me let you develop this place

Into a coloured picture.

(based on "Postcard from Kashmir" by Agha Shahid Ali)


Postcard from Kashmir by Agha Shahid Ali 

Kashmir shrinks into my mailbox
my home a neat four by six inches 

I always loved neatness. Now I hold 
the half-inch Himalayas in my hand.

This is home. And this is the closest 
I'll ever be to home. When I return, 
the colours won't be so brilliant,
the Jhelum's waters so clean,
so ultramarine. My love
so overexposed. 

And my memory will be a little 
out of focus, in it
a giant negative, black
and white, still undeveloped.