On Tabassum My Daughter Stumbling Upon The Word `Consummation’ In A Dictionary

July 25, 2020

 

 

Not for her

Ethereal glimpses

            Of roseate morning skies

 

Not for her

Tridasan vihaya, the

             Crimson trails on the parting of her hair

 

Not for her

Frolicsome

            dips in the pond

 

Not for her

The pride of erect breasts

            Kissed by weary garlands of marigold

 

Not for her

The insolence

          Of tender limbs

 

Not for her

The tender

           companionship of the blue god

 

Not for her

The all-consuming void

          Atop mount Kailasha

 

Not for her

Whirlings of the Darvish, or

          Perversions of Foucault, Derrida

 

Not for her

Swan lake on

         Moonlit nights

 

Not for her

Rose gardens of Shalimar,

         The love of Majnoon

 

Not for her

The Carrefours

         of Shahin Bagh and Taksim

 

Not for her

Secret millennia

         Of Amazonian insurrections

 

Not for her

Tombs and minarets of

         marble and clay

 

Not for her

Gazelle-eyed flights

         Across plastic borders

 

Not for her

The insouciant grappling

           Of tiger cubs

 

Not for her

The cosmic dance of

            Black hips

 

Not for her

The flashing eyes and

              Slipping drapes

 

Not for her

The luminous bazaars

              Of Scheherazade

 

Not for her

The jouissance

             of clickety fingers

 

Not for her

The frolicsome Eid

             Of a thousand full moons

 

Not for her

The adolescent devotees

            Of CR7

 

Not for her

Feigned anger

           Of reunions

 

Not for her

Dreaming steeples

          Of incunabula

 

Not for her

The vermillion of freshly

           Wiped tears

 

Not for her

The pollen grains

           of Behzad and Hafiz

 

Not for her

The mystic routes

         of Baghdad

 

Not for her

The miracle of

         Jerusalem

 

Not for her

The blue mosque

          Or the red one

 

Not for her

The pools of emerald

          And jasper

 

Not for her

Stolen kisses

         On the corniche

 

Not for her

Simmering anger

         Of the dark-eyed goddesses

 

Not for her

The raging pyres

         Of sacrificial suicide

 

For Her,

Consummatum est.

 

 

 

 

Umar Nizarudeen

Umar Nizarudeen is with the University of Calicut, India. He has a PhD in Bhakti Studies from the Centre for English Studies in JNU, New Delhi. His poems have been published in Vayavya, Muse India, Culture Cafe Journal of the British Library, Ibex Press Year's Best Selection, and also broadcast by the All India Radio.

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