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Saturday, April 09, 2005

For a little boy (new sawaal)

Little boy, don't fall out of love
with me.
That I am growing old is no fault of mine.
I want this face to stay smooth as
could be
I didn't want it disappearing - line swallowing up line.

Little boy, don't fall out of love
with me.
I cannot help it if they will not stand -
your card-houses, your sand-castles
by the sea…
Wind and water do not long stay loyal to land.

Little boy, don't fall out of love
with me.
It is not my doing - this hardness of eye.
The hard clay, the rock walls of this world
I see
are sinking into my vision, by and by.

Little boy, don't fall out of love
with me
Though I am neither witch, nor fairy of your tale
Nor the wind that howls, nor the breeze
blowing free.
At best, I'm a book - for now, beyond your pale.

But little boy, don't fall out of love
with me.
In ten years, in twenty, you will begin to understand.
Though it will be forty years before, finally,
you see
such driftwood as my silence, such longings of quicksand.

Little boy, don't fall out of love
with me.
But love many others… many, many more.
For love, in a man, will branch and flower
as a tree,
only when rooted in the first love of yore.

(c) Annie Zaidi, April 2005

9 Comments:

Blogger livinghigh said...

heartfelt, yes.

15/4/05 23:13  
Blogger Suhail said...

Beautiful. I wanted to pick one best line. But here, excellence excels itself. I give up.

15/5/05 23:45  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

time tested philosophy...so true always...
absolutely loved the poem....

could i add you to my list?

23/8/05 22:21  
Blogger Sonia Faleiro said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

31/8/05 17:45  
Blogger Suhail said...

hello zig..where is the new jawaab? I have been waiting for months...

4/10/05 11:36  
Blogger Farrukh Naeem said...

"I cannot help it if they will not stand -
your card-houses, your sand-castles
by the sea…"

Heartbreaking wisdom, passing on from one generation to the next.

Loved the way the poem flows.

22/2/06 00:53  
Blogger Annie Paul said...

yes, this is amazingly good, why have you stopped? we want more...

6/9/08 02:50  
Blogger Kush said...

O Christ!! That is an amazing poem - will always remember...

19/12/10 23:01  
Blogger Isabella said...

Lovely poem...
"At best, I'm a book - for now, beyond your pale."
What a beautiful line..
Just happened to stumble upon ur blog.. Nice work u have here! Keep at it!

14/3/12 06:46  

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