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Poets and Dreamers

POETRY

How

8/29/2016

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Omer Tarin


How can I define this passion?
It s tempo and motion?
Its deep laments and pain?
It is something unspoken but felt,
Hidden but not-hidden- ‘’the Open Secret’’ says Rumi-
In the darkness I am lighted by it towards some oracle, some worthy and high
Pilgrimage, to Olympus or Delphi I do come.
My eyes are fixed upon something just beyond this horizon, some grave scene or word that is meant to ring out and grip me, to enthrall and burn to the very bone.
Yet, silence.
Where are the voices ? Coming down the mountainside and calling me to that ever-burning bush, that fiery tree on the gravelly slopes of Sinai? Why this sordid silence, this emptiness longing to be fulfilled ? The music of the soul is stilled right now. And I shed tears of separation.
How, then, shall I translate you, my Friend? My Beloved? How shall I interpret you , in some transcendent mode, bring down some epic code? How shall I address the people? How expound and enact some complex ritual of worship?
I leave now, then, towards a simplicity.
In my own reflection I see you. And that is all.

© 2016 Omer Tarin 
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​New Exodus (Syria 2016)

8/29/2016

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Omer Tarin


The lambs are slaughtered and we leave-
By the spouting of their blood!
By the omens in their entrails!
By the riddles in their bones!
- We leave
This is no land for the tattered ones
We no longer belong to these hills
Our ploughs are blunted against furrows of stone;
The milk of our cattle has curdled in their udders;
Vultures feed on our wretched carcasses
As we leave behind our painted dawns and
Nights pregnant with desire;
We leave behind a heavy curse-
O land of tyrants!
O land of fools!
May your rivers shrivel into dust;
May the plague infest your fields;
This is no land or refuge for us,
The sons and daughters of the ages,
We who have been given mastery of these worlds
And those worlds beyond these worlds;
We have folded our tents under the scrutiny of our foes
And tomorrow, tomorrow we shall find ourselves, anew.

 © Omer Tarin 2016, by special arrangement
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To my nephew, Hussain, on his birthday

8/29/2016

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Omer Tarin


​Lodged up there, on an imagined elephant’s back
Your voice chants out with pride
A medal of triumph, great in itself,
Strange and shining in its innocent strength,
Like the stars, dazzling us both with precicious wisdom ;

The roaring cataract of love surrounds us
And your smile becomes a lion,
Golden-maned and true.


© 2016 Omer Tarin 
Omer Tarin is a Pakistani poet in English, research scholar, social activist and mystic. Tarin has published five volumes of poetry in English, widely reviewed in Pakistan and abroad, as well as several poems published in anthologies and collections worldwide, including A Sad Piper (1994; 1996 UK),  The Anvil of Dreams (1995), Burnt Offerings (1996, 1997),  Riverbeds Flowing, and The Harvest of Love Songs (1997, 2000; and UK ed 2003).  In addition to his literary and academic interests, Omer Tarin has established a private library for research students and scholars in a wing of his home and also donated a sizable collection to the National Archives of Pakistan and the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. 
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Moonfall

8/29/2016

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Sarah Angelise


We waited  
with our hands tied  
under our wings  
For the perfect moment 
to be gifted to us 
Watching the Sky 
from afar 
Watching the stillness  
of the burning stars 
The Moon rose  
golden in hue  
And yet you stood still  
You did not know what to do 
So we waited 
a little longer 
Burned prayers and love letters  
Sacrificed our chances 
Gave everything up 
to the Moon 
Until the Moon fell  
sleeping 
into our hands 
of dreams  
And we stood silently 
In awe of its graceful falling  
from the Heavens 
And we let go of everything  
We ever believed  
And I kissed you 
Filling your hands with new stars  
And you handed me new dreams  
As we fell asleep in one another's arms
​With the Moon fading into starlight 
​
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    Rehan Qayoom
    Poetry Editor
    Sufi, Mysticism

    Rehan Qayoom is a poet of English and Urdu, editor, translator and archivist.  Educated at Birkbeck College, University of London, he has featured in numerous literary publications and performed his work internationally. He is the author of 2 books of poetry and several works of prose and criticism.  He lives in London, United Kingdom..

    Picture
    "I didn't come here of my own accord
    So I can't go back alone
    Whoever brought me to this place
    Will have to take me home"

    Rumi

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  • Home
  • Dreamers and Displaced
    • Poetry
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    • Poetry...more...
    • Non-Fiction
    • Author Interview
    • Book Review
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  • Past Issues
    • Late Summer Light >
      • Fiction
      • Poetry
      • Non-Fiction
      • Book Reviews
    • Treasure in Red >
      • Fine Arts
      • Performance
      • Poets and Dreamers Literary Journal >
        • Events
    • Blue Stars
    • Transformation
  • Books
  • Submit
    • Upcoming Issue
    • Usage Rights
  • SHOP