Two Poems by Insha Muzaffar

(1)
In the mirror
the hangman
looks so like my silence
that I wish I was born as
a  million tongued word
meaning freedom
there are no flowers
like that of moon
(eclipsing over old mountains)
no resurrection other than its absurd cycles
but then
the way some  people
longingly gaze at  the first daffodils
fills me with horror
how  do I tell them
that bereft of metaphors
spring is just a season

(2)

You were tired of my faith in absence
see how  past has arrived
in your country of masks
proclaiming the nightfall of myths
unlike you I don’t
question the  verity of river
carrying songs  of uncounted years in its bosom
or the ancient truth of shrine wish knots
turning the rosary of hope
your skepticism
is just  longing for a miracle
take a leap of faith and  you shall feel
the garland of epitaphs hanging around our necks
in the lasting wilderness of yoked  centuries
milestones stand defaced like darkness
and no roads exist except for
the dirt tracks of lost voices
so, unlearn everything
to see how  every wall
is an eye

Bio: Insha Muzafar is an poet based in Kashmir who feels poetry like resistance enables people to see alternative possibilities of being by challenging the hegemonic narratives set by institutions and people in power.

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