There Were Poem by Sadiqullah Khan

There were hanging to those ceilings blackened
Hides of the lambs and goats taken straight
Fleeced and treated with salt and ash
Four legs tied with some rare knots in leather
And hollow open from the neck where they
Would carry their heads while grazing in the green
Those skins were filled with water and milk
And skimmed milk from which
Cold butter would be made to float
Some women carried it to the nearby spring
Would fill it with water to carry to long distance
On a camel back and milk in it would skim it so
So was the oil from butter for the rice around boiled
There were those skins of goats and lambs filled
With grain in winters to preserve the taste

There were hanging from those ceilings blackened
With the color of smoke from long winters
There were minor spaces for the eyes to penetrate
Branches from oak wood on the ceiling above the pine logs
There were comers not so straight and a small mud fire place
Brass pot for the warm water as light flames of fire
In the middle like a monastery would all around

There was the scent of the linen and silk of Shanghai
Music of the silver ornament as the heads would turn
White of the eyes and dark of the eyes above cheeks
A hanging gun that had been oiled more than hundred times

There were the long shadows of the evening
There were the darkest nights ever seen on earth
The brightest moons and thousands of stars
There were many suns behind every corner of the walls
There were many trees and fruits of apple and plums

There were many who were in love too

Islamabad
2/6/2010