Paradise
       

In homilies, the preachers hype paradise.
We stopped there once but did not stay.

Drop by drop, she draws blood. In pity
Afterwards, she strings them into beads.

In glory she ignites the hall of mirrors,
As the sun lights up fields of morning dew.

I am compounded of contradictions.
My sparks unify to burn my granary.

Somewhere she sleeps with a lover tonight.
Why else in dreams does she smile so coyly?

This can't be easy. Many hearts will bleed
When she lifts the veil from her grieving eyes.

Ghalib, I have longings of extinction.
This reverie unites the scattered universe.

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Copyright © 2019 M. Shahid Alamb All rights reserved
from Intimations of Ghalib
Orison Books
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission