“In the garden of life,
Grows a sapling of pain,
The deer of songs nibbles at it.
The winds of seperation
Blow through the night,
A few leaves drop.
A few leaves drop,
Mother, they drop,
And sounds stir in the garden.
If a few birds of breath
Should fly away,
The deer of songs is afraid.
But the birds of breath
Will surely fly,
Nothing can hold them back.
Through the night
In every direction
They fly away.”
― Shiv Kumar: Sampuran Kav Sangreh
Grows a sapling of pain,
The deer of songs nibbles at it.
The winds of seperation
Blow through the night,
A few leaves drop.
A few leaves drop,
Mother, they drop,
And sounds stir in the garden.
If a few birds of breath
Should fly away,
The deer of songs is afraid.
But the birds of breath
Will surely fly,
Nothing can hold them back.
Through the night
In every direction
They fly away.”
― Shiv Kumar: Sampuran Kav Sangreh
“Flowers of sin, like some black sun,
Bloom in my dreams
Their perfume-sodden fragrance
Spreading through each heartbeat.”
―
Bloom in my dreams
Their perfume-sodden fragrance
Spreading through each heartbeat.”
―
“Yesterday, I was collecting words.
One was up there, sitting in the bo tree,
Another was in the banyan.
One was wandering in my street,
Another was lying in the earthen jar.
A green word lay in the fields,
A black one was eating flesh.
A blue word was flying
With a grain of the sun in its beak.
Every single thing in this world looks like a word to me.
The words of eyes,
The words of hands.
But I do not understand words I hear from a mouth.
I can only read words.
I can only read words.”
― Shiv Kumar: Sampuran Kav Sangreh
One was up there, sitting in the bo tree,
Another was in the banyan.
One was wandering in my street,
Another was lying in the earthen jar.
A green word lay in the fields,
A black one was eating flesh.
A blue word was flying
With a grain of the sun in its beak.
Every single thing in this world looks like a word to me.
The words of eyes,
The words of hands.
But I do not understand words I hear from a mouth.
I can only read words.
I can only read words.”
― Shiv Kumar: Sampuran Kav Sangreh
“People worship god.
I worship this separation from you.
It is worth Haj to a hundred Meccas,
This separation from you.
People say I am as brilliant as the sun,
They say I am famous.
What a fire it has lit in me,
This separation from you.
Behind me is my shadow,
Ahead, is my darkness.
I fear that it might leave me,
This separation from you.
No taint of the body is in it,
Nor litter of the mind,
All has been winnowed out,
By this separation from you.
When sorrow comes, bringing with it
Loneliness and pain,
I pull it close to me,
This separation from you.
Sometimes it colors my words
Sometimes it weaves through my songs,
It has taught me great deal,
This separation from you.
When sorrow, defeated, fell at my feet,
Amazed at my fidelity,
The world came out to see
This separation from you.
Love earned me fame.
People flocked to praise me.
It wept in my embrace,
This separation from you.
The world turned out to tell me,
That I had been unwise.
It sat me on a throne today
This separation from you.”
― shiv kumar de samuchi kavita
I worship this separation from you.
It is worth Haj to a hundred Meccas,
This separation from you.
People say I am as brilliant as the sun,
They say I am famous.
What a fire it has lit in me,
This separation from you.
Behind me is my shadow,
Ahead, is my darkness.
I fear that it might leave me,
This separation from you.
No taint of the body is in it,
Nor litter of the mind,
All has been winnowed out,
By this separation from you.
When sorrow comes, bringing with it
Loneliness and pain,
I pull it close to me,
This separation from you.
Sometimes it colors my words
Sometimes it weaves through my songs,
It has taught me great deal,
This separation from you.
When sorrow, defeated, fell at my feet,
Amazed at my fidelity,
The world came out to see
This separation from you.
Love earned me fame.
People flocked to praise me.
It wept in my embrace,
This separation from you.
The world turned out to tell me,
That I had been unwise.
It sat me on a throne today
This separation from you.”
― shiv kumar de samuchi kavita
Sofia’s 2025 Year in Books
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