to the Other

Show your face, 

you, 

my comrade 

in the torments 

of her unspeakable beauty, 

which haunts my heart 

with a thousand fantasies, 

which blinds me 

to the world 

and its foolish tricks.

You are familiar with the path 

her lustful spirit treads, 

that shines bright in her afterglow, 

mocking my eyes 

for futilely worshiping 

the ground beneath her feet.

You bask in her closeness;

you breathe in the air

which mournfully bears 

the fragrance of her body. 

The moon sees you 

from its perch in the sky, 

as it once saw the dalliances 

of many an unfulfilled night.

You’ve touched that face, 

those cheeks and lips, 

to the memories of which 

I devote my life. 

You’ve beheld those eyes, 

that aloof, bewitching gaze; 

you know my life is not a waste.

The agonies of love 

have been equally kind to us, 

to you and I; 

a kindness that knows no limits,

or end. 

What this passion gives to me, 

or takes, 

I can hope to explain to no other 

but you, my friend.

It humbles me, 

this love, 

and makes me one with the beaten. 

It brings me new friends: 

melancholy,

and an endless ache of the heart. 

It acquaints me 

with the dishonor of abjection, 

and reveals to me

the cruel mysteries 

behind ashen faces 

and helpless sighs.

When they huddle together 

and weep, 

those whose eyes won’t shed tears, 

for fear; 

when the sustenance of the meek 

is snatched from their mouths, 

by the beasts 

bred of wealth, 

and stealth; 

when the honest toils of love 

are sold short, 

and the streets run red 

with the blood of the powerless; 

a fire consumes my soul, 

a rage 

I cannot contain; 

so patient through the travails of love, 

why my heart now loses control, 

I cannot explain.

An Inspiration from Faiz Ahmed Faiz's "Raqib Se!"