Marigold

Lonely 

flower 

of gold 

waiting 

on a bench

to be picked 

by Mary

so it be named

Marigold!

Marigold

From the Bench

Whilst doth from paradise any one speak,
Still palms, magnolia and old bark trees,
Rich green lawn netted with sport line,
Erstwhile bench, -alas I did not speak much,
From thence, but I lived poetry musical –
Chanted to nature, love’s bud lips kissed.
And to the dark future we our worries sent,
For now the perfection is heavenly stream –
And now the irretrievable moments pass by,
We enough savored the damp night's dew,
As pale moon on our souls watched above
And the smiling dawn its silver doth spread.

-From the Bench

Sadiqullah Khan
Lahore
June 19, 2016.

Art: Marigold by Charu Gandhi @ http://charugandhi.blogspot.com

Speechless

Speechless 

Answer me!

Oh, poet laureate

of my heart’s domain!

Return!

Return from where

no one ever did

nor ever does,

I do but insist.

The beloved mate

you sought without

was within to find 

one with your soul

you never looked;

so you lament.

Why did you not?

She stood by you 

in your despairs 

in your hopes of love;

never you did in hers;

so you lament. 

Why did you not?

Childhood playmate

infused joy,

unalloyed

in fun and games;

made your time possible 

to while carefree away 

She secretly threaded 

notes in earnest

your songs of happy

oh, your songs of sad;

never you but sang her song;

so you lament.

Why did you not?

You poesed of regrets many

not though of apology any

to your beloved, 

to your friend, 

to your soulmate.

Why did you not, 
why, indeed, did you not?

Answer me!

charu
061216

Grand....

cases of stairs adorn the houses a la Twelve Oaks of wealthy Wilkes in Gone with the Wind, the palaces a la Buckingham Palace of royal Windsors of the United Kingdom, the lobbies a la

Chicago Theater of Chicago. They are the exclusive steps for rich and famous on ocean liners, a la Titanic. 

They radiate romance, affluence, refinement and beauty of special kind. 

Real or fictional they, most certainly are the objects of envy.

Grand Stair Case-Leela

Windows...

...somewhere in Chennai 

Windows

Nautilus

Nautilus

Chaos and Order

Chaos and Order

Chaos

Unformed mass 

yawning gaping

light and dark

alternately 

streaming 

order of sorts

in green soup

as if primordial

waiting for a bolt

of lightening

charu

060116

Friendship

Friendship

Friendship

If I share mine

thou shalt thine

O' dear friend of mine,

Let us together 

Spend this spring,

Inadequately though long 

To speak of discontents

Of winters past 

Loves lost

Hearts broken

Rivers cried

Lives unlived

charu

053016

The Voices-Sadiqullah Khan

A word on The Voices

Covers motif green leaf 

bind five hundred plus leaves

of great poesy

The tome of a book

drenched me with speaks

some poet's not others 

in complexity 

often simplicity

of music, harmony

texture, dichotomy 

of private and public

personal and not so

lives and experiences

If Shakespeare was master of human nature 

Khan is master of studious observations 

interweaving eastern with western 

Enjoyed all poems loved several

Specially Balcony-s

for they feathered as in tickled

my inner Urdu

charu

052716

Sadiqullah Khan responded:

-am high amongst

Could words be more potently drugged
And feathers have weight of ages,
Balconies sung to some dame,
Flowers on the chiseled neck drape,
Love be as ardently scribed –
Of lately I wondered to be face
To face with immense beauty
And not knowing wherefrom the path,
To the destiny, for destiny is you.
Could it bleed in my eye for want of tear,
Or galore laughs loud echo the ambience
And between us the distance be written,
With fragrant lines, and trees laden.
Ah! If I be dead for the dread of love,
Then from the flowers in bosom I live,
Nor the anguish of knowing and not
Knowing, for silence is greater than music.
O lace your tender softness around,
My face gleams with shineness of sun,
Such love is bestowed upon me –
That am victor in defeat, am high amongst.

-To Charu Gandhi on her poem on my book The Voices.

Sadiqullah Khan
Lahore
May 28, 2016.

Wave

Wave

Waves

Love surged on

In radiant waves 

Only to break at

Your stony heart.

Charu 

050416

Cloud Gate...Chicago

A joy to visit....

Chicago is known for its high winds.

My Structural Engineer husband did the wind-load calculations for the installation of this immense and beautiful structure. 

Chicago meets Panama City

Cloud Gate-Chicago

"Cloud Gate is a three-story steel sculpture that has been dubbed "The Bean" by Chicagoans, because of its legume-like shape. The sculpture is the first public artwork in the United States by world-renowned artist Anish Kapoor. The privately funded piece cost $23 million, considerably more than the original estimate of $6 million. Composed of 168 stainless steel plates welded together, its highly polished exterior has no visible seams. It is 33 by 66 by 42 feet (10 m × 20 m × 13 m) and weighs 110 short tons (100 t; 98 long tons).^[64]

After Kapoor's design for the sculpture was selected during a design competition,^[65] numerous technological concerns regarding the design's construction and assembly arose,^{[64][66][67][68]} in addition to concerns regarding the sculpture's upkeep and maintenance.^[67][69] Experts were consulted, some of whom believed the design could not be implemented.^[70]Eventually, a feasible method was found, but the sculpture's construction fell behind schedule. Cloud Gate was unveiled in an incomplete form during the Millennium Park grand opening celebration,^[71] as the grid of welds around each metal panel was still visible.^[72] The sculpture was concealed again while it was completed;^[73][74] in early 2005, workers polished out the seams.^[72] Cloud Gate was formally dedicated on May 15, 2006,^[75][76] and it has since gained considerable popularity, both domestically and internationally.^{[77][78][79][80][81]}

Cloud Gate (also known as "the Bean") is a reflective steel sculpture that is inspired by liquid mercury; the sculpture's surface reflects and distorts the city's skyline.^[65][82] The curved, mirror-like surface of the sculpture provides striking reflections of visitors,^[77] the city skyline (particularly the historic Michigan Avenue "streetwall") and the sky.^[83][84] Visitors are able to walk around and under Cloud Gate's 12-foot (3.7 m) high arch. On the underside is the "omphalos" (Greek for "navel"), a concave chamber that warps and multiplies reflections. The sculpture builds upon many of Kapoor's artistic themes and is popular with tourists as a photo-taking opportunity for its unique reflective properties.^[85][86]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Park