Unflying
If birds were to crash into clouds
Would their feathers
Get wet?
~ ~
A sparrow drinks off a puddle
Its thirst does not know
The meaning of dirt
~ ~
No tree remembers
Woodpeckers that knock
On its doors
~ ~
They should have remain caged
I let out the two love birds
Who flew away in different directions
~ ~
Crows line up on cable wires
They resemble black flags
In mourning
~ ~
Parrots green like raw lemons
Vampire beaks peck
At fruit neck
~ ~
The kingfisher flies over water
Swoops down on a fish
Baits watch with envy
~ ~
The dove does not know of war
It laughs when released in the sky
To herald peace
~ ~
The cuckoo calls loud
Lightening before rains
Wounds before pain
~ ~
A kite visits my window.
Looks me in eye
Turns its back and shuts the door on me
~FV
(c) Farzana Versey
She writes with anguish and pessimism, a journey into hearts of darkness with no light at the end of that distorted prism, mainly because as she astutely observes, “every few years Pakistan writes a new fiction” to keep the embers alive. ”
—India Today
About Farzana
To be categorised is near-death. It would be nice to say that one is a literary vagabond, but it just does not convey fully the sense of rootlessness and ruthlessness one strives for constantly.
Have written opinion pieces, feature articles and interviews for...
Connections
Farzana’s Favorite Books
Every writer, besides the ones I have listed, who has had something to convey that leaves me with the taste of bitter chocolate...that I like.
Farzana, Each window, like a
Farzana, Each window, like a shadow box. I enjoyed them all. The first is wonderfully thought inducing. And the crows—Crow is a kindred sprit—I especially like the image and feeling you created with this one.
Rebbecca: I like the idea of
Rebbecca:
I like the idea of a shadow box. Thank you. Yes, crows, the ordinary, maligned crows...I just felt this way.
~F
Exquisite
Farzana,
This is such an exquisite meditation on our feathered friends, yet of course, it is so much more than a poem about birds. I found it to be an allegorical treatise comparing the follies and tragic condition of our human existence with the flight of birds, who transcend this lived reality. I love the stanza about the doves, and the opening stanza is koan like. The entire poem is simple and oh so evocative.
I have been away from reading you because of work commitments, and am so pleased to return to this entry.
Thank-you,
Cindy
Allegory
Cindy:
You caught me out, or perhaps there is nothing I write that is just about what it appears. Each is indeed about a phase, also personal. There are times I find that analysing works, but when there is too much happening I feel the need to just pare it down to the minimal. It gives me a quick look at the immensity through a microscope, as it were.
Lovely to see you here, although I too have been remiss in posting/commenting.
~F