Three Poems

Poetry ~ Mohammad Zahid

​
1. Transpiration 
 
The plant remembers.
 
Every drop of water poured to nurture it,
the touch that butterflies make, the caress
of morning breeze, the solace of warm evenings,
the adornment of the shimmering heavenly delights
of the moon and the twinkling stars.
The water seeps into the soil nourishing
every vein making the plant grow,
sprout buds and unfold leaves. 
 
The plant grows yet another organ
to tell its stories, embroidering stomata
in every unrolling leaf. Eye shaped to replicate
something else. And in silence they tell
the tales, drawing in a mixed medium
of a floral extract dabbed with the silent outpouring
of the stomata. No one hears, for it is a muffled flow,
somehow aligned with the cycle of the universe itself,
subtle, slow, silent.
 
While the science steps serendipitously
terms it transpiration, the plant looks on
with its fogged stomata, for the loss of words. 
 
The plant remembers. 

~

2. Frozen Tears
 
A cold whiff of winter air
brushes across the face
just brightened by some inner joy,
unknown to even those who seem close. 
The last Ivy leaves left midway
by the quick retreating autumn,
having turned rust-red,
haven’t given up, for heart-shaped they are.
The overnight frost glistens
in their veiny surface limned
by the tiny needle-shaped crystals of ice. 
Sometime later during the day,
the winter sun with all its might
tries to thaw whatever it can.
The ivy leaflets listen to the sun
and create a tear drop. The winter breeze
gives them a shiver and the tear drop is shed.
The tear of joy however
gets frozen on the eyelashes,
for it wants to be there,
forever.

~


3. Ending a Poem

A poem does not end at a full stop
nor does it pause at a comma,
it doesn’t raise eyebrows at a question mark
or vanish at an exclamatory mark.
A poem isn’t caged in a guillemet
or imprisoned in parentheses
 
A poem may end in a sob,
a shriek, a distant cry
or a whimper.
Some poems slowly disappear
in a tear-drop
leaving behind
faint traces of saline crusts.
 
Does a poem ever end in a smile?

~

Mohammad Zahid is an award winning poet and translator from Kashmir, India. His poetry has appeared in many Indian and international journals. He is a translation editor for Kashmiri at Muse India and Lakeview International Journal of Literature and Arts.

His translations of some major works of Kashmiri Literature were published by the Academy of Art, Culture & Langauges, Jammu & Kashmir, and Sahitya Akademi New Delhi India. His latest poetry collection titled ​Graffiti of Dreams is published by The Writers Workshop Kolkatta, India. Apart from his poetic meanderings, he also talks to his surroundings through his camera lenses, capturing his perception of life and nature in pixels. He is a banker by profession.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Zahid_(poet)

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