Poem- Two black birds...

Purple Vine and Spring Swallow, c.2000 by Chen Jun

Two black birds,
tiny, with pointed tails,
silky,
with just a hint
of white, pure as snow and touched
only by the wind,
were hopping along amid tufts
of emerald green.
The one who lead the way
seemed to be struggling,
anxious,
he poked about hunting
for worms and snails.
Despite his agitation,
his appearance was impressive,
he had a strong
sense of purpose-
he was the head
of no small brood!
So he puffed out his breast
and held up his head
and pranced around displaying
his strength and agility.
But then, acting
purely on instinct,
he turned around and of a sudden,
became very still; his chest
deflated and his wings
sagged all the way
to the ground.
For there stood his lady,
young and glowing,
looking very satiated,
with a big, fat worm
wriggling
in her beak.


Zaina Anwar 2011

Poem- The Last Illusion

Trees Shadows on the Park Walls, Roundhay Park, Leeds by John Grimshaw Atkinson

It is easy
to fall into disuse,
to let the plants grow wild,
to let weeds stifle the roots.

It is easy to dismiss
the beauty of the sun,
to miss the clouds floating by
and their shadows shifting over the heath,
or your child's smile as he runs,
in reckless joy,
across a sun-dappled field.

It is perilously easy
to slide into squalor,
into a comfortable ignorance,
to secure oneself in the evasion
of life's painful
ambiguities.

(inspired by the movie 'Grey Gardens', 2009)



Zaina Anwar 2011

Poem- On the Death of Love

Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais

(While reading Keats and blinded by the sheer brilliance of his verse, I penned the following):


All I remember from that day-
The day before she died-
Is in her hands she held a nosegay
Of pretty peonies with a silver ribbon tied.

Though many a summer's hour I spent with her,
Reposing by the languid stream;
Always abandoned by Courage, I could never confess
My love for the bride of my dreams.

Oh! if only I had known, if only I had grasped
The treachery of Fate spreading her arms to thee,
I would have taken my heart, in golden trimmings wrapped,
And presented it, as an offering to thee.


Zaina Anwar 2011

Poem- Fragment XVIII

Photo taken and edited by Alexandre Fundone
via tumblr

Your love has stirred my heart
Like the warm spring breeze
Caressing reeds to life
In stagnant pools.


Zaina Anwar 2011

Poem- The Curse of the Wanderer

The Wanderer above the Mists, c.1817-18 by Caspar David Friedrich

Where do you go, O Wanderer?
Do you not have a place
to rest your head
or a loving embrace
to soothe your soul?

Here you lie by the dying brook,
your eyes feverishly devouring
the burning summer sky.

Have you no craving for a kindred spirit,
to open your heart and rid your mind
of the curse of black
discontent?


Zaina Anwar 2011

Poem- The Fall

Boreas by John William Waterhouse

The sea laps up your desires
but you, bronze-skinned beauty, you
float in the scarlet ether of oblivion.

The sky soaks your innocent pleasures
but you, nymph-like enchantress, you
drink the scarlet wine of oblivion.

The beast is howling in the woods tonight.

Take heed for he is coming for you,
seeming to charm but only to ravish
the star of Venus about to fall,
and her ancient kingdom, forever vanquished.


Zaina Anwar 2011