April is National Poetry Month!

[brigdh]

And you know what national poetry month means: I vaguely attempt to post a poem every day! Of course, it's already the second, and this is the first poem, but whatever. Some poetry is better than no poetry!

Desires Come by the Thousands - Asadullah Khan Mirza Ghalib, translated by Robert Bly and Sunil Dutta

Each desire eats up a whole life; desires come by the thousands.
I've received what I wanted many times, but still it was not enough.

The one who killed me should not accept blame for my death.
My life has been pouring out through my eyes for years.

In paradise, as we know, God showed Adam the door.
When I have been shown your door, I feel a shame deeper than his.

The tallness we all see in you is an illusion.
If someone took the tangles from your hair, we could all see that.

Hire me if you are commissioning a letter to her.
Every morning I come out of my house with the pen behind my ear.

These days people point at me and say: 'This is true wine drinking'.
It must be time once more for Jamshid's great cup.

I am always asking others to sympathize with my pain,
But it turns out they are worse off than I am.

For devoted lovers, living and dying are about the same.
My life is sustained by looking at her but it also takes my life away.

For the love of God, please don't lift the curtain over the Kaaba.
Perhaps in that spot we may find an ordinary stone.

The mullah and the tavern door seem to be two separate things, Ghalib,
But I did notice that he was entering yesterday as I was leaving.