Like florid ink | Steffen Horstmann

Like florid ink, a rainbow's melting colors glow through the clouds–
Where the ocean's mirror reflects Shiva's shadow through the clouds.

The light of dusk becomes a veil through which Vishnu's shadow strides.
Now gales lift dust from roads, to whirl like snow through the clouds.

The wind's fluent hymn becomes Akhtari's voice gliding across straits
From where Ravana once rose within a tornado through the clouds.

You watched the sun dissolve into the horizon, & stood with a seashell
Pressed to your ear, hearing an ancient storm echo through the clouds.

Ashes that pulsed with light floated in the sky, where the phoenix's
Shadow was subsumed within the moon's glow through the clouds.

Shahid dreamt himself becoming the light of the Javan skies, 
Changing from blue to gold, from lime to indigo, through the clouds.

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.”