My Faltering Courage Poem by Sadiqullah Khan

'... Farewell then,
Until, under a better sky
We may meet expended, for just doing it
Is only an excuse. We need the tether
Of entering each other's lives, eyes wide apart, crying.'
John Ashbery, Parergon, from The Double Dream of Spring

My faltering courage, my muse,
Of drowned words, songs I forget.
Could someone be poorer than me,
Meager mast and my broken oars.

Of your alms, O small arm,
Restore my pride, shambled shame,
My home in tethers on vast earth!
Ah fate, could you be destined so?

Twice bitter than enmity sour,
My Nang, Pashto and Ghairat (honor)
A spear's banner, my tall head,
For ever bent, such a foe I face.

- To the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of North Waziristan.

Sadiqullah Khan
Islamabad
June 25,2014.