They come to see us <br />In the company of winds and rains <br />Their whispers are heard <br />Besides the doors <br />And empty corridors are filled <br />With the shimmering garments and scented bodies. <br />Leaping over the walls, slipping down the roofs and sun shades <br />Walking with voiceless steps like the shadows of clouds <br />Eyes see them crossing the silence <br />Of half paved courtyards <br />Far from reach <br />Moving towards measureless distances. <br /> <br /> <br />The windows yawn with mouth agape <br />And ponder on that; <br />Overthrowing the earth, nestled comfortably on its breast <br />Looking triumphantly towards the sky <br />These mountains, beyond them <br />There must be a lake <br />And birds and nimbus clouds <br />And thickets of trees running into each other <br />Uneven grassy plains <br />Herds of sheep and lonely shepherds <br />And pathways running far away <br />There must be some village, some city <br />Or some other country <br />Where some other poet (like myself) lives <br />Writing verses! <br /> <br />Demarcation is easy on parchments <br />A few dots and lines delimitate <br />Mountains, rills, streams, sloping grounds <br />Fields, settlements, jurisdictions, ownerships and regions <br />Passes and secret paths <br />Even forts and battlements with rows of iron - clad heads <br />Can be drawn. <br />But while pointing out the shadows overstepping the walls <br />Extending to doors, windows, courtyards <br />And the silence spread up to the remote recesses of the hearts, <br />The sun and rain change their hue <br />On the ground plan. <br /> <br />(Translated from Urdu into English by Prof. Ghulam Jilani Asghar)<br /><br />Naseer Ahmed Nasir<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/line-of-control/
