As she sings the taffeta clouds brighten with stardust, luminescent forever–
With the lights of Lucknow pulsing in the sky's mirror, opalescent forever.

She can see through a nomad's eyes, entering an oasis within a mirage–
Rising from the sands, raindrops are pearls of floating light, evanescent forever.

The flames of bonfires shed shadows that flutter around her like moths from lanterns–
The white ink of comets like brushstrokes through the night sky, phosphorescent forever.

She watches emerald clouds reflected in terrace pools transform to hyacinths–
The water, an aurora adorned with the gems of stars, pearlescent forever.

Notes cascade from her flute, become turquoise dragonflies swarming in the ruins–
As she sings the breeze etches anemones onto tombs, luminescent forever.

She becomes a whirlwind that forms a rose's corolla on the sands of the Thar–
She becomes lightning-sheened rain falling into the ocean, fluorescent forever.

Thermals spin from a tornado roving gulches, as the gold sand swirls in ruins
She ascends with ghosts that glitter like mirages, incandescent forever.

She says to Shahid: "Write of how a universe germinates inside my eyes,
Write of how my body is a rainbowed veil of light, iridescent forever."

She says to Shahid: "Write of how my eyes reflect the golden forms of the sun,
The damasked light of the sea, glazed in vibrant hues, viridescent forever."

Author : Steffen Horstmann

Steffen Horstmann’s poems and book reviews have appeared in publications throughout the world, including Baltimore Review, Free State Review, Istanbul Literary Review, Louisiana Literature, Oyez Review, San Antonio Review, Texas Poetry Journal and Tiferet. He has published two books of ghazals, Jalsaghar (2016) and Ujjain (2017).

Steffen Horstmann, in his own words: “Agha Shahid Ali taught me the ghazal form while I was his student at the University of Arizona.”