gulab khandelwal selected poems

Look, the yellow-colored evening has set,
One more jasmine flower has fallen from the stem.
I am watching with wide, haggard eyes,
One more dream of my youth has died.

I am returning like a defeated gambler.
There is no brightness in my eyes,
No lusture on my face.
My soles are all pierced with thorns.
That which we call life, is not a bed of roses.

There are eyes of some forsaken woman in my eyes.
There is anguish of some wounded man on my lips,
My heart sobs like the tinkling bell
Fallen from the foot of the dancer.

I don’t know, why my heart is so overflowing.
As a child lost in a fair.
I always weep in seclusion
In the memory of by-gone days.
This was the shore,
Where there was always a gathering of white swans,
Now, yellow dust is flying all around,

The play-ground, has been turned into a
Grave-yard
All my friends and companions have left me,
One by one.
I am also being called by some one
From the other side.
I am tightening the rope ef life again and again,
But the knot gets loosened every moment.

Where are they,
Who lived in these houses,
Whose foot-steps are still audible ?
The congregation has ended, the singers have gone,
But I still hear the melodies.

The cruel and silent walls stand like questions,
The eternally mysterious doors nod silently.
It appears,
Those fair-complexioned, shining, godly figures
Will emerge from them smiling once more.

Who knows, where
The care-free group of friends has gathered again ?
Where those loud laughters, those songs,
Those satires and stories are ringing ?
Ah! could I but once fly through the windows
Of the sky !
Ah! Could I but once
Get a glimpse of the other side !

Oh what a variety of images !
How numerous are the idols, the Creator makes !
Who knows, where he takes them
Snatching them back again like an eagle,
One by one!
The darkness of a snowy night is increasing,
I am swimming in a great void !

Losing all sense of direction.
The earth, the sky, the sun, the moon, the planets
And the stars,
All have been left behind..
My existence has become quiet
After consuming itself,
Although, my heart still beats.

Where are they,
Who always walked hand in hand with me ?
The echoes return,
‘There is no one here’
All friends and companions were with me
For an hour or two
Or at most for a day only.

The valleys are getting narrower and narrower,
Those who were running are crawling.
My feet are moving in solid darkness now.
Even my breath appears unfamiliar.