What Happened to Them?
by Nasir Kazmi
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Those who came ashore, what happened to them?
Those who sailed away, what happened to them?

Those who were coming at dawn, when dawn never arrived ...
Those caravans en route, what happened to them?

Those I awaited each night on moonless paths,
Who were meant to light beacons, what happened to them?

Who are these strangers surrounding me now?
All my lost friends and allies, what happened to them?

Those who built these blazing buildings, what happened to them?
Those who were meant to uplift us, what happened to them?

NOTE: This poignant poem was written about the 1947 partition of India into two nations: India and Pakistan. I take the following poem to be about the aftermath of the division.

Climate Change
by Nasir Kazmi
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The songs of our silenced lips are different.
The expressions of our regretful hearts are different.

In milder climes our grief was more tolerable,
But the burdens we bear today are different.

O, walkers of awareness's road, keep your watch!
The obstacles strewn on this stony path are different.

We neither fear separation, nor desire union;
The anxieties of my rebellious heart are different.

In the first leaf-fall only flowers fluttered from twigs;
This year the omens of autumn are different.

This world lacks the depth to understand my heartache;
Please endow me with melodies, for my cry is different!

One disconcerting glance bared my being;
Now in barren fields my visions are different.

No more troops, nor flags. Neither money, nor fame.
The marks of the monarchs on this land are different.

Men are not martyred for their beloveds these days.
The youths of my youth were so very different!

Nasir Kazmi Couplets

When I was a child learning to write
my first scribblings were your name.
―Nasir Kazmi, translation by Michael R. Burch

When my feet lost the path
where was your hand?
―Nasir Kazmi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Everything I found is yours;
everything I lost is also yours.
―Nasir Kazmi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Syed Nasir Raza Kazmi (1925-1972) was a renowned Urdu poet and playwright. His poetry continues to be used in Pakistan Television (PTV) shows and in Indian Bollywood films. Keywords/Tags: Nazir Kazmi, Urdu, translation, ghazal, couplet, love, pain, grief, melancholy, mrburdu

they see me walk into the supermarket
with a military style precision,
usually 15 minutes to eleven p.m.
just before the market closes,
   and i'm a very predictable customer,
a litre of ***, a 2 litre bottle of
pepsi max...
     i have not idea that pepsi wins
the battle with diet coke...
   and the last time i drank some normal
pepsi (loaded with sugar) i was like...
this tastes funny...
  one cashier calls me mathias,
   another calls me babe -
   this military style precision has been going
on for? well, probably more than a year,
day in, day out, sunshine or rain.
    just yesterday i remembered something
from my youth...
    vimto squash...
   i can't remember the last time i drank it...
so i thought to myself: come on,
revive the taste buds...
     so i did, bought a 2 litre bottle of it...
but while in the check-out
  the cashier that calls me babe
   made the remark: well, that's different...
unusual for you...
   so i told her:
        see, i remember the taste being so ****
unique when i drank it as a child:
god, i still remember the school dinners
  at st. augustine's school in barkingside -
most notably? chocolate cake, drizzled with
custard;
  and vimto... something, almost ghostly
now, because the taste for the squash has
changed so much...
    but that's not what i'm aiming at:
         i clearly respect the theological aspect of
conversation, notably?
early early jordan peterson (circa 2008) -
i just find atheism too arrogant,
    an arrogance that french-kisses out-right
condescending -
  it makes religion ridiculous:
    by attacking it with the only weapon at its
disposal: ridicule.
             however, i find the story
of the kiss of judas very comical...
       so the jewish authorities didn't recognise
jesus, after the last supper?
    the most popular person in the region,
drawing crowds of a great number,
  and then suddenly, what? so unrecognisable
that it required a kiss of betrayal to identify him?
seems kinda sketchy...
        what did he do, cut of his long hair
and have a shave?
then again, i'm starting to consider the follow
twist in the story...
   jesus the nazir - nazir? a jewish cult -
where their members grew their hair long,
   and abstained from drinking wine...
maybe the nazarites became infuriated,
  rather than the biblical account that the man
had beef with the pharisees, or the sadducees?
maybe the real beef came from the nazirs?
really... what's so ****** iconic about
judas "identifying" jesus to the authorities
by kissing him?
       i'm pretty **** sure the locals,
esp. the authorities, would have been able
to identify the man without this gesture...
   like i said:
(a) did he have a shave and cut his long hair
     in a roman style?
and
(b) i think the nazirs had a bigger problem with
jesus, than either the pharisees or the sadducees...
given that he imitated some of
their practices, but abused the vino.

nazir_wpg
from Bromhead, SK
“I was watching a report today on Huffpost. That burgers we eat at fast food chains contain Human DNA and Rat DNA. What about Mcdonald??”

McDonald's Canada
We don't use rat or human meat in our food. McDonald's food safety and quality standards are among the highest in the industry. We source our ingredients from approved suppliers that adhere to strict standards for food safety and quality, including a controlled, well-maintained and clean environment throughout our entire supply chain. Our Supplier Quality Management System, based on globally recognized ISO and PAS standards, is given to each supplier and is intended to identify our expectations with respect to quality management systems, including food safety. In fact, McDonald’s rigorous standards have been used by government agencies as models for their own regulations. The number of times a restaurant is inspected by a health inspector varies. There is in general, at minimum, a yearly inspection. In all of our restaurants, there are at least 70 safety checks completed on products and equipment every single day. We also periodically audit our own restaurants to make sure our standards are upheld – because food safety is extremely important to us. We hope this clears up your concerns.

May 13, 2016