Poems by Nasir Aijaz / Sindh, Pakistan

 

Poems by Nasir Aijaz

Sindh, Pakistan

Wandering between Utopia and Dystopia

I think of living in Utopia,

A place of ideal perfection,

In an egalitarian society,

In a civilized world,

Believing in coexistence,

No conflicts, no battles, no bloodshed,

Harmony among followers of various religious beliefs

Overwhelmed with a sense of peace and tranquility!

My notion proved wrong

As I’m witnessing thegrowing political and economic dissonance,

Destruction of ancestral abodes, mass starvation

Blood spilling everywhere,

Beheaded bodies of youth found in Asia

Corpses of men and women in Europe,

Genocide in Middle East,

Internal strife, killings in Africa,

People opting migration, being down-and-out,

I hear the wailing of mothers, sisters and daughters, sobbing of kids!

This is not, and cannot be a Utopia we wanted to create,

As the place of ideal perfection is nothing but an imaginary world,

The Utopia, the Garden of Eden is far away,

A paradise where Adam and Eve lived in harmony with nature,

We are inhabitants of dystopia,

The world ofgreat sufferingsand injustice

Beyond the imagination

I feel myself wandering between the Utopia and Dystopia.

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Yearning for Peace

O’ Motherland!

Do you remember the lessons you offered to us

Of evading the aggression

And retaliation

Even against any aggressor and invader

Living in peace with everyone was the lesson you taught us

Throughout the ages.

How stirring were your teachings

That gave birth to a great Indus civilization

There was no ruler nor any subject

All were equal and believed in one God

No discrimination of color, caste and creed

No weapon nor any war

Peace prevailed everywhere

Everyone was attached to his own vocation.

O’ Motherland!

Do you remember how the time changed!

And the aliens invaded our lands

‘Aryans have come’, ‘Aryans have come’

Were the wailings echoing all over the Valley of Indus!

The Aryans had brought the weapons

That was the day the Indus Civilization came to an end

With emergence of a militarized society

Onset of the bloodshed all around!

O’ Motherland!

Do you remember we didn’t forget your teachings!

Welcomed the ‘unwelcome influx’ of Aryans

To ensure peace and tranquility

To safeguard spellbinding natural beauty of Indus Valley

Farmlands, picturesque high mountains, and the rivers

And the natural wealth!

O’ Motherland!

Do you remember how our longing for peace and tranquility was misconstrued!

And the aggression, invasion continued

History is witness how the armies of invaders devastated this land

And plundered the wealth!

"The world is made luminous and is transfigured,” the invaders claimed

The times have changed

But the wars and battles continue

The old weapons, swords and the archers replaced

Sophisticated war equipment invented

For devastation, bloodshed, annihilation and subjugation.

O’ Motherland

Do you remember the invasions through the centuries!

Being followers of your teachings of universal peace and harmony

We always remained defensive

We haven’t given up principle of nonviolence

We believe in coexistence

And yearn for peace

But a question continues haunting

‘How long to remain nonviolent?’

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Craving for Inner Peace of Soul

Dwelling in a Concrete Jungle

Engulfed by the suffocating smoke, emitted by millions of automobiles

The deafening noise of their roaring engines

Scorching weather during the summer

And the smoggy winters

My thoughts always traverse across the oceans, and the countries

Thousands of kilometers far to the *Land of Morning Calm.

I reminisce the nights spent at *Baekdam temple

Sitting at the bank of mountain stream before the day break amid the *Wishing Stone Towers

Plunged into Ocean of Silence, overwhelmed by serenity

Stream flowing down from atop the *Seorak Mountain

Passing near the temple

The shallow water of mountain stream babbling over the smooth pebbles

Like oars plashing in the silence

Like the fading but unceasing sound of bell-ringing

By a vendor selling the sweets to the children in a street.

I recollect reciting *Buddhist Monk’s poem ‘The Silence of My Beloved’

I visualize the rhythmic stamping of beloved’s feet

Wearing the anklets, twirling in front of me

Creating charming harmonious music.

I envision the Aurora, streaking across the sky in a chariot of light, announcing the coming of the sun god.

I take a deep breath and listen to the cry of my heart

Craving for peace of mind, inner peace of soul.

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*Land of Morning Calm – Korea

*Wishing Stone Towers – Pyramid-like heaps of pebbles

*Baekdam Temple – Baekdamsa Temple at Seorak Mountain in South Korea

*Buddhist Monk - Poet Han Yong-Un (1879-1944), whose poetry collection is titled ‘Silence of My Beloved’. He was author, poet, and activist for Korean independence from Japanese rule.

*Aurora - Roman Goddess of Dawn

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About the Poet

Nasir Aijaz, based in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province of Pakistan, is basically a journalist and researcher having spent over 48 years in the field of journalism. He won Gold Medal and another award for best reporting in 1988 and 1989. He has worked in key positions for newspapers and news agencies. He also worked as a TV Anchor for over a decade and conducted some 400 programs. He is author of ten books on history, language, literature, travelogue and biography. One of his books ‘Hur – The Freedom Fighter’, a research work on war against the British colonial forces, also won a prize. Further, he translated a poetry book of Egyptian poet Ashraf AboulYazid, into Sindhi language, which was published in Egypt. Besides, he has written around 500 articles in English, Urdu and Sindhi, the native language of Sindh. He is editor of Sindh Courier, an online magazine and represents The AsiaN, an online news service of South Korea. His articles have also been translated in Arabic and Korean languages. He writes poetry in his native language Sindhi, and English. Very recently, some of his poems have been translated in Albanian and Italian languages and published there besides in Arabic language published in Egypt and Abu Dhabi. . His English poems have also been published in Bangladesh, Kosovo, USA, Tajikistan Nasir Aijaz is one of the founding members of Korea-based Asia Journalists Association AJA. He has visited some ten Asian countries and attended international seminars.