When the honking
Delhi
deafens me dead
Kashmir comes to me
as Saffron
walking out of earth
wearing wistful anklets
deafens me dead
Kashmir comes to me
as Saffron
walking out of earth
wearing wistful anklets
When the blistering heat settles
the dust upon my face
Kashmir comes to me
dripping from icicles
thawing my frozen soul
When the dark smear
settles like the night
and street-lights glisten white
like shinning fog
Kashmir comes to me
as a family
enjoying evening tea
around gas-light
and I hear
cows returning to calves
without master's call
after grazing carelessly
in spring sun
When darkness gnaws the buildings
and creeps in the soul
Kashmir comes to me
as lungs satiated
with Chinar smoke
of autumn leaves
burning by roadside
When everything is still
silent, somber and shivering
Kashmir comes to me
as Kangri, as Samovar:
my heart, my soul
And when nothingness cyphers
Kashmir unfurls under my skin
as your touch
Kashmir then comes to me
as balloon to a child
waving like a flag
