ears and arrows

8/14/2019 Ears and Arrows

1/44


2/44

Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy,absentminded, sweetly wild.

(Loveplums sitting in my fridge)

Samir

all poems samir m. malik


3/44

Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy,absentminded. Someone soberwill worry about things going badly.Let the lover be.

I have five things to say,Five fingers to giveInto your grace.

First, when I was apart from you,This world did not exist,

Nor any other.

Second, whatever I was looking forwas always you.

Third, why did I ever learn to count to three?

- Imam Jallal Ud Din Rumi(translated by Coleman Barks)


4/44

oneears.


5/44

your ears

tiny little whorls of silk

fashioned from the purity that

rains from above

how I long to touch them

but I am afraid.

i will, i know.

but not now

when

soon. Soon as I will kiss you

and this kiss will carry us home.

i know where it is

i have been therebut I came back

in search of you.


6/44

all night I went in search of you.

the island of my dreams is vast

and I searched for your elegant fragility

amongst all the peoples who crowd my countries.

looking,

searching for the line you create

as you sail through the masses

through the misery and joy of it all

as if

walking on the wings of Gods message bringers

you go your way.

I felt that I had missed something.

as if a gift from spirit was lost to me.

even though placed before me. i had been

not brave. i could have touched them,

i know,

and then kissed you, taken you in my arms and

let your heart whisper to mine.

but i did not.

and this filled me with a grey melancholy

a shape undefined clouding the sun from my path.

and i so longed to worship the sun again

find it's light again in your light.

so i searched, blind, and asked, lost but

praying for hope to come and bring

you across my searching.

so i could see again, breathe again

and finally kiss you as i wanted

since the first time i saw you. again.

many spoke of seeing you. many knew

your ways, your dreams

and i felt again and again and again that

our dreams almost touched. almost.

but my hunt went on

under grey skies

and i awoke

not even having

sighted that great mane of yours


7/44

of gold and earth

those eyes the colour of depth, magic and longing,

those high arched feet that grace and

bless our earth with each step,

those delicately fabulous ears that

only God knows how

i long to touch, kiss as if i

i would find the taste my lips have endlessly

endlessly searched forever.

i awoke on the shores of a great ocean

alone.

full of longing.

but full of knowing.


8/44

no sooner had we kissed

then, suddenly

the wind had found it's voice

suns rained down

lighting, burning paths,

where seas would enshroud their waves

in depths deeper than deep

the place where

i had hidden mesuddenly whispered

tones beneath

of silence of fishes

fish that swam from back then

and kissed our toes

and i knew of glory again

and gladfullness and joyness

knew who i was again.

but

lost me again the momentyour lips

brushed mine.

again.


9/44

you paint great strokes across my face

my heart all dizzy

the rest of me i do not know

i can not tell.

you paint great strokes of juice of itallness

redandorangeandgoldand

violently

your lips speak to my toes

the rest of me i can not tell.

i have lost myself in this

i have just realised

the guard has gone

i hear someone callthe guard has gone!

and i am here!

with these applemangogreatcherries

that paint great strokes across my heart

my soul. has just begun to realise

maybe there's more to you than ears.

and the smile has come back to life

and i realise. that my soul...

i don't know.

are there words?yes! yes!! kiss her again!!!

and i lose the words

as i do.


10/44

i should be waiting for a sign

i guess

for some hidden voice to call

that it has been ordained

and that i belong to you now.

or not.

and i does not come. and i continue

to tumble

into this gracious emptiness

catching flowers and kisses

on the way down

to

the life that's waiting for me.the life thats been written for me.


11/44

i am a king of beasts

prowling jungles of Madhat

hungry for a sight

amongst the dense curtains

of stares

ajanbis, thieves and saints...

sight

of you, my lioness

proud and simple

like a child's hands

capable of greatness

but able to shred hearts

mutilate egoscreating glorious sacred

spaces

to allow serenity,

joy to live

in between barbarians

and beasts.

do not ask me.

i would not tell.

...gregarious spices

laden in shop frontsscent of jasmine

or even nana on little table tops

the strains of Fairuz

carried over rooftops after maghrib

even looks of passerbys

babyfeet racing down streets

and traces of birds at dusk.

Loveplums sitting in my fridge.

laughter and play

children celebrating in houses below.


12/44

afternoons too,

tea with a view of the heavens

so clear, so crisp,

little cherry tomatoes full of life

begging to be tasted

the call to prayer at sunset

the call back to God.

all this carries me to you.

as if all this, framed in light and shadows

were the world, burning a path

in the rough leather of my days

carrying me, urging me on

back, after so many choresso much talk of nothing

back, to the smile i adore.

the ears that taste of honey

and free summer rain

these lips i worship everytime

they touch mine

and worship more when absent

there, only in traces,

tastes

out of which everything grows.all this is my truth

all this carries me back home.

but do not ask me.

i would not tell.


13/44

on the terrace under the stars thinking of you.

tonight the mountain lights call

to something inside of mea song inaudible that my soul relishes

distant. yet so near.

strange. yet so clear. familiar.

calls to a part of me that

although missing you, lies

waiting for your essence

to pass through walls

abstinences and feelings holed

back then. to come and

kiss me. touch my cheekmaybe caress my waist

and say

of course i feel for you

of course i dream of us

i don't want it this way

at all. but you can not

show me, it can't be that way

but i say to you

wait.

for i too shall give you a rose.


14/44

i feel myself afloat

a single boat with no oars

on an ocean as far as the eye can see

my sails are broken

and fish swim past

playing shadows in the waters before me.

the star are out, too many to count

fashioning voyages and charts in the breezebut i am happy to sit, wait

and watch the miracle of it all

and let God carry you gently to me.

i should do something, i think

make noises and move

but that comes just occasionally

but i know i have no choice

my heart has found it's voice

and it sings of out love constantly.

it tells me you are mineand that now i am yours

and very soon our hearts will be freed

to play in the same waters

on which i float adrift

and make real this wondrous dream.


15/44

love. desire. faithfullness.

2 questions

placed delicately at my feet.

hopes. wants. fears.

2 questions

i am trying to rhyme this.

i want to be great.but nothing comes

because all this greatness

stays in side

to ponder

2 questions.

...love

functions

exponentially

i think

because

that

makes

it okay

that i dont

under

stand

whatit (really)

means.


16/44

wild were you.

sweetly wild.


17/44

sweetly wild.

no other words come

your touch on mine

has left scars

shapes only God knows of

burned on my skin, telling of us.

that mere mortals can only endeavor

habiba,to decipher, read

but i am left with

scars. that only i know

only you and i know

can only

be read by our

lips, fingers and hearts

whilst we are

sweetly wild.


18/44

as i walk, float you do

alongside my faltering steps

a child lost in this world of wonder

made more alive with each

passing

second

that i walk amazed

how you float as you do

as if carried on divine hands

next to me

along the path that leads

to us.


19/44

the moment we met

i did not realise

that although your small hands

being

simple, empty and beautiful

as the skies

were laden with gifts for me

gifts that although i had forgotten of

were the ones i had longed for

to set it free

to fly free

in the skies

as simple, empty and beautifulas your hands.


20/44

sometimes i am afraid

that this love

so brilliant, bright

only visible in shades

and vows half whispered

when it is brought to light

will burn all

will leave only charred out remains

kisses now cause angels

to flee and hide their wings

touches stolen in the souk

cause all around to search for

firelooks full of so much longing

put the sun to shame

and cause flowers to turn to us.

unknown children greet me

endlessly

during my day on the way

back to you

people stop me

endlessly

driven by a hungerto touch the light, burning

in my body, me being

since you came back

from only God knows where

back to breathe the gifts

of laughter, belonging, fire

back to my life

and quicken the search

for reasons why. how

your look has banished all questionsburnt them.

i am afraid that i, we. will

set the world aflame.


21/44

i want to make love to you

on a bed

carved

of eucalyptus wood

from the forests of old

Africa

draped with roses

with thorns

that, as they cut

let me taste the blood that carries

my spirit now

the blood that will one day

run through the veins of my children.i want to make love to you

on a bed

carved

of eucalyptus wood

laden with roses

with thorns.


22/44

two

waking.bewildered...


23/44

Habiba. Last night i felt you visit me. i was not dreaming but it felt like a dream, so unreal yet at

the same time so real, where suddenly you were standing at the door to my room., as if framed

by the heavens behind you. i beckoned you to me and you came, taking steps that betrayed your

desire and suddenly, your lips were on mine and my hands were they most long to be, tracing

the places that i most long to kiss, taste, worship with my lips. as your breath mingled with

mine, i felt how our love had grown, as strong as, if not stronger than our desire for each other,

the longing to be one, to be lost in each other, something so primitive, something so pure. Sobeyond this world. So of this world. i loved you last night as i never imagined was possible for

mere humans. i loved you and laying there with your body pressed to mine on the shores of

this great ocean, i knew i had finally come home

(waking

in the night

mixed and bewilderedfull of joy.

is that your leg

or mine?)


24/44

all night we will walk

i know this, i know this.

sleeping

we will walk in the world of shadow

of dreams

where no one can disturb us

and i will feel you next to me

your fingers laced in mine

your breath echoing mine

your laughter lighting the way

our love will follow.all night we will walk

until day calls

like an unwelcome visitor

ringing in the sun

from so far away.

and i will go.

i will leave you

and my fingers missing you, my whole being feeling your absence

led by this touch

just a memorywill continue to follow the path i

will take

like roses that appear before my feet

shooting stars a compass of mine

invisible to all but me

through those ungraceful hours

until we meet again

walk again, your hand in mine.

together, in shadows

of dreams.


25/44

your eyes so tender

mouth. half open

as you lean to me

across unimaginable distance place

your lips on mine

lightly lightly touch the tip of my tongue

with yours.

...lightly lightly i touch ever so softly

the inside whorls of your ears

ever so softly

i touch ever so softly

the path your cheek makesever so softly down the half moon of your throat.

your breast

i caress

ever so softly

ever so softly i

bite

ever so softly, you sigh.

this,

pulls me away from sleepmakes me laugh out loud

find reasons to celebrate life

to love you

call you my joy

and miss you touching

lightly. lightly

ever so softly

your light with mine.


26/44

fire burns at night

guiding my soul to

where it finds quiet

inside of you

where it finally takes flight

inside of you

a prayer i recite

inside of you

a longing you incite

inside of you

day and night

day and nightday and night

if God were to ask me

what wishes i wish to fulfil

i would say:

keep her a close to my heart as you are.

let her feel my love. always, nourishing her being

let her always be a source of mystery to me;

let me always, every day be amazed, always at her beauty.make her never want to wander, too long too far from my side.

keep our love always pure

so her heart will always feel destined for me.

He does ask.

everyday

in between moments

that fill my day

inbetween words that come.

like gentle arrows sent from you to me.

in the birdsong i spy in the morncausing me. to feel a longing, feel complete, feel God calling you to me.

in the whispers of my soul hidden from all eyes

including mine

telling me. you are mine.


27/44

a thousand times last night

i remember this being a marvellous dream

but knowing it to be real

every time your body touched. mine

sending waves of recollection

of somewhere i knew before.

(coming here)

i remember being troubled, unnecessarily

that i keep you from slumber.

but most, my love, most i remember i slept. i slept

knowing my body, my soul, toes,

ihad finally come home.

that now i am yours

that no one else

except you, except you

will now sleep in my dreams.


28/44

lost in this day

far away from the one i love

i remember.

memories that transform

your essence calling me to this new day

those eyeslonging the urgency to take me inside

of you, deep inside

your life.

i remember your body beside mine

joined

together. unimaginable purity.

as if made of the same cast, as if

made of the same clay and sweetness.

made to fit with a perfection. filling meand the world with light.

i remember your voice, your hair,

your mouth, your breasts, sweet to my taste.

your sleek

feet, all of you that i will worship

with my lips, my hands,

my body, my soul til it breathes its last and leaves this world.

i remember waking in unisonas if my soul had learnt your rhythms

or, maybe, yours mine.

i remember a new rhythm

being born. maybe.

one of you with me with you.

i remember

your embrace

holding me, holding me

telling of fears


29/44

that need a hunter

to find them,

to banish them.

i remember those fractured moments between wake and sleep

secrets whispered in your kiss

without words.

telling me that you want me

to travel, to share the hopes

of your life

to be there in whatever

dreams may come.

the ache of surprise

it's amazing

how you can light up

the park as i try and explain

the smile on your face

the truth in your eyes

will catch

me. if

i fall.


30/44

three

thiswithoutwords.


31/44

leaving

you carry me in you

words spoken by me

will echo around you.

looks from children

will bring you my eyesphotos in magazines

posterboards, shopfronts

streetsigns under which

lovers pass gently by

will bring you my touch

on your heart, your body

your listening so delicate.

everything. everything.

my love

will be like little boats that willsail to you

carrying parcels of me

essence of me

through time and distance

along rivers under all skies

calling you

in a whisper

as loud as the Adhan

back to my side

where you will come.back to my side.

where you belong.


32/44

you are the sound of the sun at dawn

the light that rings the day in

and wakes the bird into song

the seraphic song that greets us

on the way

back

from beyond

the reasons

why.

great panes

of glass separate us.

the doors are closed.

the magic of smile.

yours still therebut a violent sadness hits me.

hits me with a great pain.

as the train

moves

carrying you away again.

slowly. slowly till

more than great panes

of glass. separate

us.


33/44

and you're gone.

the longing comes

falling from below. risingfrom above. filling me

like light.

the longing comes

to feel your skin against mine

feel your voice ringing

through the empty spaces

that will surround us

all externals banished

by the touch of you

on me. me on you.painting truth for

none to see.

but us.

i asked myself

if this is true

the love i feelshould it bring me

places

unknown

where i am suddenly afraid

places

where, lost, i want to hide.

places where i compromise.

my love for life.


34/44

what are hands?

they have lost their purpose

since not being allowed

since thento touch

to cup

excite

prepare. for my

tongue my bite

to follow the path

that your back creates

as your eyes small

your mouth an o

your teeth baredpain, pleasure.

actually none of them

but something beyond

a sound not for those who listen

but for those who love.

what are my eyes?

they search endlessly

blind since not being allowedsince then

to witness

the curve your belly displays

as your back tenses

always more

and more as you are driven

pulled by thiswithoutwords.

into

oblivion.


35/44

why is my nose?

a tag of flesh and grisel

dead since not being allowed

since thento swim in the splendour

that has no words to explain

a collage of summer

and intimacy

innocence and evil

Jung called it Anima

i preferred to call it you.

with me.

as one


36/44

i tried to call.


37/44

tried to get through.

tried everyone.

and still you

are lost to me.

and i notice

how i sit

patiently

a good boy waiting

for it all to wake up.and you to turn up at my door

again

or someone to call up

and say

she's fine

she's sad

she's faraway

she's dead

she loves and misses youshe'll never come

back

something.

anything.

as i try and reach out

try to get through

as i try.


38/44

i want to be the tree

you used to lie under

As a child

creating the world

you were going to live into

unfold

with me at your side.

i want to be the tree you

used to lie under

as a child.

Since you left.


39/44

groping around i smell the twee

sitting in my life

all me you and three

blue am i

tired

blind to my needs

and all others

and i want to fold up

grow branches deep

and lose my trunklose my crease

dis

appear to you

and all your queens

and all your kings who smile

as they

unknow

ing

chew and spit out. destroy

my heart.groping around

brings tears

sweet.


40/44

forget the bills.

work not important any more

food. eh?

sleep. hunh??!

going for a shit

and watching the rain

and making coffee

for incase you come

back

is all i do.

the sliver of the moon

outshadows my fears

sometimes. as i call

silently to

come

come quick

and save me from

this terror

that lays

wasted


41/44

around me every corner

since you left and dont call

anymore.

i was there

and birds greeted me everyday.

now all flee away

escape my sullen looks.

the one i love has gone.

she flits about so i see her.

i hear her voice.

but her soul in on some distant shore.

a place where i dont rejoice.


42/44

four

arrows.


43/44

gone are you (I now know) and the lie

hands me a towel

to wipe my face

so i am free

to scream

and love you

hate you

all at once

and be okay withmissing you

like i do.


44/44

ears and arrows

Documents