As/Is







11.17.2006


Maryam Gazala: "These moments"   [translation of a Gujarati ghazal]


Lacking clear cause   I'm assaulted   by these moments
when I'm minded to move   I'm halted   by these moments

say I'm settling to sit?   these moments push me along
do they peddle mirages? yes   I'm exalted   by these moments

they have levied from me   the habit of regular sleep
a midnight knock   my door has defaulted   from these moments

on some days   they raid my larder of every morsel!
other days my begging bowl's filled and salted   by these moments

O when I make a try for the path of being simple
with what riddles and puzzles   I get pelted   by these moments!

day and night   I keep on piling up more errors
like a soothing friend   I'm lulled and lilted   by these moments

the entire world is disclosed as a vast museum
when into its labyrinth   I've been tilted   by these moments

what I most cherish is my desire for the murmur of roses
but here on the stairwell   thorns are belted   by these moments

oh what courteous physicians   they can prove to be!
when you wound me   I'm gauzed and felted   by these moments

why now falsify your newsbrief   darling Gazala?
when they choose to leave   you'll be jilted   by these moments



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Rendering of a Gujarati ghazal ("Amthi amthi mujhne aklaave kshano") by Maryam Gazala Radhanpuri -- following from Max Babi's literal translation.