The Poetry Spot (PTM Newsletter, Dec. 2008)

posted by drew

01.20.09

Ancient Remnants

A shattered stone statue
Some old copper coins
Strange ornaments of blackened silver
Several broken bronze vessels
Were unearthed
In a desert
And people say that centuries ago
Here where there is only a desert
A city was once settled
And a thought strikes me:
Even today, at a party
A gathering
When I come face to face with you
For one second
Just for one moment
The warmth of your body
The fleeting chance of meeting our eyes
The shine of your red bindiya
The rustle of your clothes
The fragrance of your hair
And sometimes, unintentionally
A tiny flower of touch
And then again, that unending desert
That desert where once
A city had flourished.

--Javed Akhtar

(From Anthems of Resistance: A Celebration of Progressive Urdu Poetry, by Ali Husain Mir & Raza Mir. IndiaInk, 2006.)

Filed under Poetry

1 comment for "The Poetry Spot (PTM Newsletter, Dec. 2008)"

George Polley says:
February 03, 2009 at 06:29 PM

How impermanent life is, yet moves on, passing, yet remembered, touched then time leaves touch behind except in memory. A very beautiful, moving poem. Thanks for posting it so people can read and savor it.

drew dellinger

Drew Dellinger

Drew Dellinger is a speaker, poet, writer, teacher, and founder of Planetize the Movement. He has inspired minds and hearts at over 1000 events around the planet, performing poetry and keynoting on justice, ecology, cosmology, activism, democracy and compassion.
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