Poetry - Odds and ends

Disclaimer - I'm writing about things I liked, am no expert on poetry :)

The other day, one of my friends, on chat, pasted to me some verses from some shayari he was reading. The usual hopelessly-in-love verses, I remarked. Though seeing the depths of those feelings in poetry certainly tugs at your heartstrings, especially with the intimacy that Urdu seems to bring (or maybe it is because of it being my mother tongue, even though I hardly undertand half of it), those feelings so marked by that hopeless fatalism, seem relegated to over-romantic fiction and indulged-in fantasies. I would definitely not want to be in those shoes, to be so carried away by desperate emotions! Of course, there are other sides to urdu poetry, only I haven't seen much of them - except some of Iqbal's poems, like Hamdardi - sweet, simple and poignant.

Can't find a link to Hamdardi, these are from 'Aata hai yaad mujhko ...', one of the few other poems of his that I've read.

lagatii hai choT dil par, aataa hai yaad jis dam
shabanam ke aa.Nsuuo.n par kaliyo.n kaa muskuraanaa

Somehow simpler words and expressions seem to make much more of an impact on me than
long-winded metaphor-filled poetry. Snip-snap, cut to the chase I say. This is a poem I'd copied from Roger Stevens' blog long ago, I like the instant identification you can make and the the rhythm of this poem too.

The Things You Are

The keeper of my heart
The healer of my soul
The hit song in my chart
The glue that makes me whole
The walker by my side
The holder of my hand
My student and my guide
The one who understands
The finisher of thoughts
My spokes, my wheel, my hub
The crosses and the noughts
My reggae and my dub
The laughter for my jokes
My wherefores and my wise
My hub, my wheel, my spokes
The blue that fills my skies
Disperser of my gloom
You blow my clouds away
The painter of my room
You brush away the grey
The seas that lap my shore
The rudder on my keel
The peel, the flesh, the core
My hub, my spokes, my wheel
The maker of my dreams
The slaker of my thirst
The miner of my seams
My second and my first
The raker of the leaves
That fall across my path
The one who still believes
The one who makes me laugh
My racing car of fun
The lock that fits my keys
The icing on my bun
Yes, you are all of these

I'm currently reading Possession by A.S. Byatt, it's fiction about two fictional poets. So she made up their poetry too, which is the labyrinthine fantastical kind (so the made-up poetry is described). I like the rhythm though, its nice singing it in your head.

All day snow fell
Snow fell all night
My silent lintel
Silted white
Inside a Creature -
Feathered - Bright -
With snowy Feature
Eyes of Light
Propounds - Delight.

( Her prose is also quite poetical. From a love letter - 'only write to me, write to me, I love to see the hop and skip and sudden starts of your ink - ...' or 'leaving Roland to an inner ear full of verbal ghosts')

I like blank verse too, but it should carry rhythm if not rhyme. I had wanted to make a post on this long ago but I shall do it now. This was a poem allegedly posted on the Hamas website, not very well-written but painful.

Everyday,
The rumbling noise of tanks
Crushing cars are heard,
Everyday,
Exploding machine guns
Echo in the air,
Everyday,
Mountains of fire burn down
Our town ...
What can I do ... ?
Each day,
The screams of mothers could be heard,
Each day,
The crying babies cry frantically,
Each day,
Men fight intensively ...
What can I do?
Each time an explosion occurs,
Bodies fall,
Each time a cry of freedom is heard,
Souls are lost,
Each time a mother cries,
A loved one is gone ...
Anger grows ...
What can I do?
Break a sweat,
Shed a tear,
Lose my blood,
Sacrifice my soul?
YES!

And I discovered Inkspillz' poems a few days ago. I loved them. To end on a light note, here's one of them -

Bug

.
Shh!
Don’t Move!

There
Is
A
Bug
On
Your
Collar

THWACK!

Gone.

You are welcome!

So, what were you saying?
You’re through with me?