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Best Poems Written by Gagan Gill

Below are the all-time best Gagan Gill poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Gagan Gill Poem

Indian Princess

The Indian princess that I am
The stars for my earrings
My warm gaze melts the snow
on the Himalayas, 
From the water in the ganges 
I seek the path of my love
Draped in silk my broken heart
Clutching to my bosom the
Pink Cashmere shawl
I seek from the mahout
The prince’s path
I open my palms seeking
Alms of love, they said to me
“look in your heart of gold”

My heart is not mine
Since the prince passed by, 
By the palace of love, 
His back turned to me
He left me alone with
His heart of gold
the dust from the sandalwood
i smeared on my forehead
i looked for his name in the
Oranges of the mehandhi 
in my hands, from the yellow
of the turmeric on my cheek
I seek his warmth.
with the black of my kajal
i wrote my songs

my prince when he returns
from the seven seas
with the Persian dancers 
at his feet
the warmth of Africa he
will bring for me and 
love from his heart 
heart of gold
and the love that he brings
and the love that i give
so pure like a child
only for him, truest of true
only for him

27 August 2015

Details | Gagan Gill Poem

Every Love

When it arrives on your doorstep, the first thing every love
asks is: can you jump from the window for me? Can you stab
your heart for me? Every love asks this: can you fly with me,
with only the stumps of your arms?

When love arrives on your doorstep, it will not leave soon.
It has to go to some mountain or valley. To an ocean or river.
It comes to your house out of the blue, and wants to know if
you will come along to drown with it or not.

Every love gives you enough time to die for it.

Details | Gagan Gill Poem

India Is Burning

India is burning
people to busy sleeping
greed raping country

Details | Gagan Gill Poem

Chennai India

Brown sugar sapotas
Blending with custard alfonso mangos
And bold sweet lime juice

Georgette saris
Pairing with uncut diamond necklaces
Mixed with peals and rubies

Gently sloping palm trees
Swaying in balmy sultry air
And hazy golden sunsets

Frenetic yellow autos
Competing with dusty zipping mopeds
Mixed with ambulating pedestrians

Aromas of cumin
Blending with the sewage
Other times with incense

Glows of brass oil lamps
Singing in hums of prayer
Added with turmeric's incantations

Brightly-patterned salwars
Accentuating gemstone bindis
Comfy fitted leggings

Savory masala dosas
Coupling coconut chutney
Meter-high filter coffee

Details | Gagan Gill Poem

Sunset

sun waves goodbye world
colourful image above
turns into darkness

Details | Gagan Gill Poem

Favourite New Year Food In India

BUTTER CHICKEN
bird dancing in butter and spices

Details | Gagan Gill Poem

Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori Chicken
Smell of mirch and masala, a spicy sensation

Mirch and masala are the ingredients.  Mirch mean chllie.  Masala is a range of spices.

For Andrea Dietrich

Details | Gagan Gill Poem

Arrogance

Arrogance
Wandered brood of Adam,
lost, bewildered people,
hear what I have to say.
 
Stop for a moment before the mountains
and for the simple sake of awe
be humbled, let your tears fall.
 
Look to, look through the air above,
be moved by the sight of stars,
watch their bodies wheel.
 
Ask the thunder, see what lightning says,
the rain-bearing wind which blows
the good grey cloud, ask them.
 
The camel's old keen for her calf,
be hushed and hear it, hear how
the birds' song weeps with it: weep with them too.
 
How the sea sounds out its old chorus,
what moves in its abyssal womb:
acknowledge these and what they mean.
 
Examine the earth at your feet,
the rush of the rivers,
raise your eyes to the clouds.
 
Glimpse what lies above
the auroral mist, the winds,
understand what these things have to say.
 
The scent of wild acacia -
inhale it, relish it, and
delight in the green of pastures.
 
Count up the lineage of all life,
mark the endless days and days:
this worthless arrogance of yours,
you have to let it go.
 
All nebulae and galaxies,
the Camel of the Southern Cross,
our own burning sun, who said these
were lit for humankind?
 
Before a man was made in this world
didn't Virgo blaze above?
Aren't all those gatherings of stars
far older than us?
Since when was their high light
kindled only for you?
 
Exactly when do you think the heavens
were told to carry out the order
‘Confine yourselves to the human race'?
If you simply ceased to be
wouldn't their light continue?
Wouldn't it be then as it is now?
 
Wandered brood of Adam,
your bluster is a lie.
You shared this womb with all
wild things that roam,
all roots that flourish,
you entered this world together.
 
All creation is your cousin,
each creature your equal
and you share an ancestor:
all living things are to you
as stick is to bark, bark to stick.
You and they are like two eyes -
when one sheds tears
the other weeps.
They were not made for you alone,
nor were they created to serve.
 
Of everything which is, half is secret -
however things appear
the meaning is always deeper

Poem by the late Maxaamed Dhamac
God rest his soul.

Details | Gagan Gill Poem

Yahan Here

Chepegi weh
Kankal main apne
Yuva chawi se baachkar

Yahan dhansegi weh
Santap main apney
Atma se chip kar

Noch dalegi
Yahan vipikhsta
Deh aur swapan

Dundeghi weh
Tinka bhar jagah
Dusron ki kavita main

Yahi weh pathar hai
Jisey chantegi weh

Ek jo machli hai
Ek jo a-machli hai

Dunbegi
Dono hi

Yahan
Yahin par


Here

Here she will hide in her skeleton
Escaping the assaults 
On her youthful beauty. 

Here she will bury herself
Under her grief,
Hiding from her soul. 

Here she will go through 
The ordeals of her body and dreams. 

She will look for a corner
In the poetry of others. 

This is the stone
That she will lick. 

The one that is a fish
And the other, a fish without fins,
Both will drown here.
Right here.

Note:telling here the plight
of a married Indian woman. "Here" stands for the
home where she lives in a joint family. The poem is 
full of metaphors, hard to put into English free verse.

Details | Gagan Gill Poem

Life According To Gagan Gill

O God
Why is your world such
Why is there injuries, hurt and deceit
I have heard you are present in everything
then why are their temples and mosques on earth
when people living on this earth are sent by you
then why are some friends and some foes
when everybody's story are written by you
then why are some unlucky and some masters of fate.

29 October