Smoke Poem by Abul Kayyum

Some smokes are vandalist, belligerent from
Open or underground dens, but break themselves
To small fragments and then spread or wither.
Some smokes, fundamentalist with fragrance of attar
sold by old priests,
suddenly fly in the sky
in shapes of swords and spread or wither.
Some socialist smokes, embracing the waist of
opposite faith,
laughingly swing in joy
like sunny clouds dancing twist
and boastfully spread
burning smell of dreamt revolution.
Some smokes disperse
fetid ashes of blazing autocrats.
And the naughty smokes of democracy
drive all other smokes to cover the horizon
under the shadowy veil of ‘General Will’
emitted from the oven of modernity-
gradually spread or wither.

Some smokes, stamped with the trademark ‘Surrealism, ’
dangle in the sky
with its shy alphabets ‘light’ and ‘shadow’
spread or wither.
Some other smokes,
either existentialist or expressionist,
wish to capture smokes of arts and culture
as a demon balloon does seiging air-
but burst at last to spread or wither.

Smokes of false arguments, smokes of non-perfoming rituals,
smokes of bonded culture
smokes of chained law
of dancing globalization
of aggressive digital revolution
of baleful market competition
Smokes of clever self-seekers
who held false meaning of livelihood for themselves
and roused spurious longing for others.
Smokes of imported sense and non-sense
Royal smokes with blazing scents of metal
– ejected from scorched crown
Aristocratic Smokes of both blazing capitalism
and blazed socialism
Poor smokes of election, referendum and plebesite
flown awefully
against violent smokes of dictatorship
Smokes of the United Nations
like fighting shadows of snakes and weasels
War-mongers’ diplomatic smokes
coated with atomic scent for seeking
ever-lasting peace and tranquility
Abstruse smokes of big-bellied theorists
Sophisticated smokes of modern sophists
Smokes of smokers

Black smokes of killers,
of swindlers
of impostors
of courtesans
of ruffians

Oily smokes emitted from the blazing brains of the intelligentia
Perfumed smokes of public opinion,
or petals of artistic smokes swam in the air
like elegant wings of evening butterflies

Smokes of welfare and warfare
Smokes of peace and love
Smokes risen from soft cushion
Smokes risen from torn quilt

Smokes in different shapes
Fly, rotate, or diminish in blue
Or fluster by breaking in clusters
for the battles they fought,
Spread and wither,
wither and Spread
on the Earth