The plaintive call
of the azan
at dusk
And the shrill silence of the skies —
a forlorn cry to whom — or what —
I do not know:
a past
wrinkled
by the tattered pages of Time
The birds fade away
silently
to wherever it is they are going
And I
remain a speck of dust
In this city of ruins
of the azan
at dusk
And the shrill silence of the skies —
a forlorn cry to whom — or what —
I do not know:
a past
wrinkled
by the tattered pages of Time
The birds fade away
silently
to wherever it is they are going
And I
remain a speck of dust
In this city of ruins
"a past wrinkled by the tattered pages of Time"- the line that stayed with me. I had a question - is the use of "--" to bring out uncertainty? If yes then why is it being used? Because that uncertainty is evident from "i do not know" also
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment :) I have used an em dash after "the skies" to lend a pause because of the silence after the aazan. And in the second instance just to serve like a comma, except it's a longer pause.
Delete"Can you rinse away this city that lasts
ReplyDeletelike blood on the bitten tongue?"
Ilina, have you read 'Chandni Chowk, Delhi' by Agha Shahid Ali? I think you will really enjoy it. It is from his collection 'The Half-Inch Himalayas' partially available on Google Books.
thanks! those are powerful lines. I had looked up the poem but those lines struck the most
Delete