Written By The Universe

By Shayaan Khusro

 

He lived in the easternmost land

Where the sun rises first

And everything was west of them

And nothing on the east.

She lived in the westernmost land

Where the sun sets last

And everything was east of them

And nothing on the west.

 

Most would say that they weren’t meant to meet

Let alone fall in love. After all,

They had no means of making a journey

Across a distance that only birds would dare travel.

Even their cultures were so far apart

That their scripts moved in opposite directions.

 

But the universe wanted them to meet so bad

That it conspired with the world

And convinced it to turn itself round

So that the distance between them would shorten

To a mere line that divides day and night,

Waiting for one or both to set sail beyond it.

The City of Jewels

By Shayaan Khusro

 

In the heart of the Subcontinent

Rests the City of Jewels

That can only be seen at a night

That hides the moon from sight.

 

It was built by the djinns using

Diamonds, rubies and more gems

To protect their homes from

The pitch-black pools of evil

That await the chance

To swallow the city whole.

The city’s roads are molten gold

That burns through the pits of despair.

They reflect the fiery ones as they travel

To their homes, markets and workplaces.

 

When the sun rises

Its light blankets the city

And banishes the darkness.

The jewels refract the sunlight

Splitting it into a myriad of colours

That engulfs the city in a mirage

From all ten directions.

The moonlight powers the spell at night.

 

If a traveller were to arrive here

At a time other than a moonless night,

They would find nothing but concrete ruins,

Cold, silent and eerie,

As if djinns are not celebrating life

Right in front of them.

 

If they dare step in,

They will fall asleep at one gate

And wake up at the opposite one,

Unaware of what transpired.

Those who enter on a moonless night,

Never return because they are spellbound.

 

If you wish to catch a glimpse

But don’t want to be enchanted,

Then you must fly above it

On a night bereft of the moon.

Pedestal

Please don’t place me on a tall pedestal. 

I know you think I’m perfection embodied, 

That I represent beauty humans can only dream of 

And ideals they must strive to achieve. 

And I know you want everyone else to see 

All that you see in me.  

 

But I’m just an idol made of clay 

And the height terrifies me, 

Because even though I look rock solid 

One push is enough to topple me off the platform 

And break me when I hit the ground. 

 

And even if you put me back together, 

The cracks from the fall will remain. 

Then people will see that I’m as flawed as them 

And replace me with a newer idol, 

As you did the one before me.  

Clay Doll

By Shayaan Khusro

 

Unsheltered, the clay doll stands outside,

It refuses to dissolve

With the monsoon that pours upon it,

It refuses to crack

When the sun scorches it bare,

It refuses to fracture

Under the chill of winter winds,

It refuses to be

Hurled away by the raging storm,

It refuses to bend

To the childish whims of men.

 

Over time the doll grows

As hard as rock,

Cold to touch,

Rigid and

Lifeless.

 

Yet an honest smile is enough

To crack the shell that

He built around himself.