Long Dithering Poems

These are English translations of Urdu poems by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, whose name is also frequently spelled Faiz Ahmad Faiz. 

Last Night
by Faiz Ahmed Faiz
translation by Michael R. Burch

Last night, your memory stole into my...

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Misery accompanied, haltered, tethered... tattered web

This health conscious lx year
roam'n, hoodwinking hoodlum doth wear
two pair bullet proof underwear,
(which confession rarely trumpeted),
plus yours truly admits unclear
why tibia long in the tooth fellow,

prevaricates with tongue in cheek...

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Infinite pitch black void zooms,
I vacillate to pitch headlong (head over heels)
where freedom looms
large (think) cosmic size grand canyon grooms
espouses, and cloisters unbridled wedded bliss
structured sound of silence booms.

Dawdling against inevitable fate
temporarily holds in check...

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Covered Dishes

1

The password is… password, shhh...
Try to remember if possible,
this sure-fire way of getting through the door;
Entering indeed, as with all lithesome ladies,
and their dithering dogs, after
entreating the big dude at the entrance gate,
with licorice...

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Infinite pitch black void zoomed,
I vacillated then pitched headlong
(head and knobby knees, over heels)
where skeletons in shuttered closets roomed,
and antithesis of freedom loomed
large (think) cosmic size grand canyon groomed
courtesy the once mighty Mississippi,
now barely a...

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Rog the funambulist 



A paragon was Rog, heroic in the air, without airs
One of the most magnificent funambulists at ease
Whether walking a rope or flying on a trapeze,
Though he blessed the earth with no dauntless...

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I spent my life in total waste,
Waiting for a spark to lead me in the dark.
Yet, it’s a small world; zooming into a big one
Two years or so-I saw an angel waiting for the bus-
The...

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They're selling off our Airport, does anybody care? 
The old Gazette's done nothing yet, no 'Save it' campaign there 
The Echo there in Darlo seems quite reluctant to 
Investigate the Peel Magnate and what they're...

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"I don't see myself..." he began.
     That's quite OK.
You can feeeel yourself.
We can see you.
We do see you.
(and we are trying to feel you.)

Let us in?

"...making it through the next few...

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A cold berating 
light-erasing rope
survives
relentless
entropy
(another year ends
 another variant contends)

Desolate debris in 
empty
erroneous caves
swallow 
blank pages
    submerged in 
mind-warping seas
where flying memes
  wait for normalcy
where words freeze
    &...

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Shivering sullen, silent all the time.
Suffering, wisdom, alone and sublime.
Where, O my oracle, shall I begin?
Blanch, light of Sin, nickel, cadmium, tin.
Hollow are hearts in the hill-towns, and why?
Dreams are a mystery passing us by!
Doom,...

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Oh wondrous one
What have they done
We're stuck here in a rut
No Paddy's Day, to my great dismay
I'm treated like your mutt

Oh little boy
Fill your heart with joy
The journey's on the cards
I've called the Prez and...

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The A to P of Change Procrastination to Adventure

Answers to be found to questions unknown must arise from new

Bold novel beginnings revisions contemplation reflections and prisms

Can manage to challenge unearth previously untrodden pastures

Diminish confusing conflicts...

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Neither family nor scant friends twill mourn
severance outlook linkedin inextricably forlorn
accursed psychological agony since I got born
incessantly pilloried courtesy bullies hood scorn,
yours truly convenient scapegoat raked over hot coals
preferable versus insidious,
malicious, nefarious, opprobrious

querulous, ridiculous, salacious...
suffering...

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The idea of either this or that appears
as a dubious dilemma tough options offer
as you walk on unsure road that wanders,
the forks would test if your judgment wavers,
senses would know if arcane wisdom falters,
none truly...

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Behind my desk of daily duties I hide obliged,
blind in perceived intent in days debilitating me,
grinding relentless against my need to find meaning…
my bleeding mind leaning against my breaching heart,
preaching intent I cannot grasp.
I gasp...

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You May Yet Make Your Blessed Choice

As old man woke, empty room spoke
silence cried, you have yet to die,
mortal flesh is your chaffing yoke
deepest regret your fallen cry!

Fight no more, let love its gems pour
rise...

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‘Three ghosts Mr Scrooge? I find that so hard to believe,
That they might simply visit, to give you a reprieve!’
‘And the ghost of Jacob Marley, who’s been dead these past seven years
Transformed into a door...

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and the Lord delivered the King of Judah
into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar.

the choice gems of the Judean royal family —
chosen to serve in the Babylonian palace.

veggies, please…no meat, no wine
from the King’s table...no defilement.

God...

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Wisdom from above, enmeshed in Love, comes complete
How then make more wisdom flow ... I didn't know

But then the best teacher discovered this dithering fool, me -
O how this Teacher renews my mind, unwinds the...

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No more poem that has no relevancy to today ! 
Ramzan Karim, Darjeeling. 05.01.2018

I was searching for words for poem
That could satisfy the appetite of reader
But  words go dithering with flaw the regular ease
Inundated...

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So many words, such boring waffle
Posturing peacocks, whispering snakes,
Actions so twisted doubtful if lawful
A bunch of connivers, dithering flakes.

In the House which they rule
They pointed and frowned
Lectures unending as if back at school,
Comments unwelcomed, arguments...

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Dear lord, 

I write this letter short, 
A psalm from my heart, 
To cherish what thy have passed
A gratitude for thy works. 

Forgive me, my lord
For when I have faltered, 
The days I spent in...

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ROBERT  FROST  WAS  NO  HELP  TO  ME

Three roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel all three    
And be one traveler,  long...

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A wise bird, wiser than the west

It blend beak of voice and a beacon afar

Deftly blending clouds with feathers

Spread over wicked continents

Which is shifting opinions as in tectonic plates

Continent of men, clouds of winged meanings

Drifting...

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