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It seems, conflicts and even full-fledged wars have become common in the world we live in today. Despite the life-threatening circumstances however we have no option but to live blunting our senses as if nothing has happened. Life too has no less conflicts and yet we have to live. This ghazal reflects this sentiment.
___________________
With this life’s unease I’d to live--
By stifling my wish I’d to live.
Alibis no more, I’d to live,
With banes bare of bliss, I’d to live.
On sail-less boat, unfulfilled dreams,
On a half-baked dish I’d to live.
Bearing burdens unbearable,
Hope on a long leash I’d to live.
Amidst all waging wars in world,
On my inner peace, I’d to live.
_______________________________
Ghazal | 03.05.2026 | bliss, fish, leash, peace, unease, wish
A small voice
squeezed between
brownstones
a cry stifled
who would tell
its pain
caught in the
cruel plans
of architects
Middle aged man in Docs,
vintage leather jacket and
grey haired pubes around his cock.
Ill fitting tour shirts rekindling a hazy past.
Barrowlands, The Bunnymen. Hammersmith Odeon,The Clash.
U2 at University pre Bono crawling up his own ****.
Danced and hugged on stage with Terry Hall,
arrested for d&d outside Bradfords Great Hall,
after watching John Cooper Clarke supporting The Fall.
Life reinvigorated by the post punk explosion,
no longer searching the NME gig guide,
but a Spotify recommendation.
or an even sadder email notification.
A pre gig meal opposed to a walk home pie in a barm.
Ear buds for the tinnitus and Bisoprolol to keep calm.
Heartbreak to watch the talent unrewarded,
by a government devoid of a cultural foresight.
Stifled opportunities
through Tory Brexit lies,
Allowing the corporations of Cowles and the EMI’s to
reap million upon million,
leaving the grassroots unnurtured, venues struggling to stay open.
Our greatest export,
an industry broken.
The life that's long brings to a man a change
Of those traditions then to modern thrill.
May journeys, that we're staid, now rearrange
To open thoughts and chance for a new skill.
Does work march on by rules of a new drill?
The World turns man like marbles in a jar,
And leaves him searching for a perfect star.
the old oak on the hill
extends its limbs towards me
offering as much comfort
as you this somber day
i sit beneath the willow
for it weeps with me
and cradles me
in its sweeping caress
my fingers tear
against frustration's flesh
the same as this jet stream
scratches an ashen sky
the clouds part
momentarily
before my now opened eyes
exposing the sky's soul
which appears to bleed
with less compassion
than me it seems
before it closes its wound
and hides the sun again
i struggle to breathe
in this cool mist rising
between the hush of sighs
and the stifle of tears
as they fall all around me
in puddles of last night's darkness
still rising in the dawn
of this day
"It was a mistake", she said.
A tiny life swiped in seconds as
gods creation is rendered a
mere cluster of cells.
Returned back to heaven
hoping the return policy
wouldn't deny.
It was a mistake; a stifled cry
A lifetime of progress,
innovation, and memories down
the drain.
The notorious "what if"
squashed with plan b; no hopes
of a future.
A stifled cry
She could have cured cancer or
delivered world peace.
She could've fed the hungry
and housed the poor.
She could've been a Honors
Harvard medical school
graduate and your pride and
joy.
None are the magical christmas
mornings, first days of school,
or birthdays.
Terminated are the memorable
first steps and momentous
coos calling for "mamma".
No more possibilities. Now a
stifled cry.
"It was a mistake", she said.
A moment of carelessness and
selfishness translates into a life
lost.
Permanent.
Sent back into the arms of god.
An easy way out. A stifled cry.
You really need to sanitize
Your filthy mouth from telling lies
Breaking all the happy spirits
That are close and always near it
Hearing lots of foolish trash
That makes their worlds fall and crash
Because you don't stop and think
How your always on the brink
Of creating the chaos
Leading to all kinds of wars
As your lies begin to spread
With the false words you have said
There has to be a reason why
You love to see true friendships die
And fall apart as you just watch
The damages you've done that scorch
Burning to embers, leaving ashes
The relationships and flashes
Of years that your lies destroy
Your sick getting lots of joy
From the painful tears that fall
Your heart must be really small
To make others so unhappy
And you never feel crappy
As the people are torn down
While your acting like a clown
The sun rose ablaze against blue__
Cobalt blue clouds, skies icy cold
stifled my desire for porch view
oh! just a second to gaze_ behold.
Do
not
allow
another
to restrain your pen,
stifling your creativity.
I will never allow another to mute my voice
or gag my creative expression, writing to impress others and neither should you.
My girlfriend she tells me “would you like to try again”
She knows there’s been a time far better then.
And I tell you people it’s just so hard to win;
And apparently something bad is wrong with my pen
I went to the doctor and told him now doc;
I spend all my nights up and watching the clock;
He gave me some potions told me to rub her with lotions;
He even measured that fish that swam in her ocean;
He talked to my woman then gave her some pills;
Now like a hand in a spade game the problem is nil.
And I’m writing these rhymes while searching my mind;
But nothing seems to come like there’s nothing to find.
Jokes from the closet on the edges of crass;
It’s nature suggestive like a kiss in the grass.
So sue me I’m crazy and they say I’m depressed;
I say it’s because I’m poor but that’s just a guess.
Up at dawn listening to some tunes;
Whatever I did last night the place seems in ruins
And over on the bed she lays but I only glance;
Right now it’s probably not worth the chance.
Apparently they learn to spit fire once they’re older
And I’ve got burns all over my neck and shoulders.
Look at me I can be downright silly;
But I’m laughing at myself the hardest really.
Sometimes people get through it but don’t really weather the storm;
And they never live the life of which they’re born.
And I tell you people I just can’t win;
And there has to be something wrong with my pen.
Can't breathe
silently suffocating
as the guilt devilishly strangles me
confusion, distrust, infinite questions
swirling around in my head
like the numbers in a bingo drum
chasing, haunting
the thoughts permeate day and night
plaguing me in my dreams
there is no escape
my silent screams echo inside
can no one hear?
I speak
No, not now
the pain still remains
behind the smile.
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