In the breath
of the forest
by the roots
of a linden
I say your name
to the wind
and my longing
gets wings.

Out there in the field of thoughts,
go grow your Hate,
shower it with the rain of Love,
fertilize it with Compassion,
tend to it with Justice
and at the harvest of Autumn
feed the poor at the world's door.



©Rangzeb Hussain

Jewelled pomegranate
rich in sparkling seed

A kiss for each
we sing

I serve you
the fig
open


Drip -
ping


Honey


.

you wore this shirt on the first day of red lipstick
lipstick in general
lipstick that created on your face a new dimension
fire around the mouth, metallic red smear, beckoning light and
darkness to enter at once
to
play in your mouth like foreign tongues.
paint that stained your stories pink.

I wear it now in your absence and there is
no colour on me
only within
the same slippery shade-
it keeps me alive.

Who me?
No I've lived here all along.
Well I leave here kinda early,
and my days are kinda long.

My name?
oh its Andy, sorry, didn't catch yours,
oh really like the singer,
oh, yeah, writer, of course.

Soaked? Yeah me too.
When I left it didn't look bad,
and of course when the suns out,
you can, always, get a cab.

No not that far just a block or two,
that bank on 4th and 9...
Oh really? Round the corner?
Yeah, no I eat there all time.

Well, no, you're always busy,
but yeah I've seen you there.
I tend to just grab take out though,
go to the park and get some air.

Well whenever I like really,
there is no special time.
Around two? Yeah I'd like that.
Lets just hope the weathers fine.

Ok then, til tomorrow.
No really not at all...
I would have said something eventually.
Just, not here in the hall.

No please don't be embarrassed,
I'm really glad you did.
Saved me getting tongue tied,
and feeling like a kid.

Hey there, are you new here?
So how come we never met?
Me, I'm always late for work
No matter which alarm I set

So tell me whats your name?
I'm Heloise, sorry, you go first.
After Heloise the writer,
hey you were close, could have been worse.

I'm soaked I wasn't thinking,
we were gonna get some rain.
And in the rush to get the bus,
I dropped my fare right down the drain.

You look like you walked miles.
You must be soaked through to the skin.
I am a waitress at Dukes Diner.
You should try us, come on in.

So how come I haven't seen you,
Are we talking the same place?
Cos I'm sure I would remember,
such a handsome face.

Say what time is it you come in?
Because I get a break at two.
I could come and join you in the park,
if thats ok with you?

How about tomorrow?
Are sure that its ok?
I dont want to be too pushy,
If its not ok just say.

Ok so now I'm blushing.
Are you sure that you dont mind?
You are? I know, I'm rushing,
But it works the best I find.

Cacaw cacaw
sing the sparrows
to her tiny china toes
the shadows criss-cross
the cherry hardwood
like a board of tic-tac-toe
tick-tock! the phoenix
rises from her coffeepot
tickling her freckled nose

she scrunches her forehead
into a fan and pats her alarm
good morning!
ambles to the sparrows
sighs out the exhaust
and breathes it right back in

another day
another sheet in the reams of paper
of people
she purses her lips
into a folded envelope
seals it with a kiss
and slips it out the window

wonders if today
she'll be the one
lost in the mail

In a dream I shall feel
The wings of the world unfolding, and
Worlds spinning on the axis of mad journeys;
And the seas breaking turquoise, upon their rippled surface.

In the heart of the ears
I shall hear the shivering willows, dreaming their
Wood-smoke dreams, full of sap and  funneled sunlight;
Pierced by light for a thousand years

And the flowers sleeping nestled in stars;
Gathered in the deep, among the wood-thrushes,
In coagulated violet forests, all shadowed and dark:
And a whispered peace barely rustles this world.