Kinhar-Part II

In old pages and pictures of my existence
Lurks somewhere, the old tales of purity
The river that flows across those valleys
Where I once grew up in protection

Through its peace and tranquillity
The old valleys, sheltered in my books
Stand there by its side, from years of travel
Stand there by its side, the old monuments
The old stories of blunder and danger

Travels with me the people of that land,
Strange and few, the beauty and its demise
As I breathe that air from years of distance
As I grow old, with memories of separation

Never there dwells darkness only the light
The silence in that land, where once fairies grew
So I thought as my desire to grow old embolden
Walk as I towards those places, in hesitation

Will I find what I left behind?
Will it find me as I move away from its tranquillity?
The old lake saif-ul-malook and its serenity
As Indus snares in its awake, all that arrives

The old imprints within my mind, as I travel
From footsteps of Kashmir to Sindh,
To meet its creators, to meet the creation
The adventures of distant times of nature and mankind!

Kashkin