so new, so new

The pausing lips, the errant eyes,
This nervous love – so new, so new.
It’s formal, yet informal too,
This heartful love – so new, so new.

Streetlight ahead, starlight above,
But twinkles only in their eyes.
Attempts to touch, attempts to hide,
This anxious love – so new, so new.

The mango’s raw on salty lips,
Such dire desires on their tongues.
Forgetting crowds, forgetting shame,
This wilful love – so new, so new.

With this one’s ring on that one’s thumb,
Who knows what else is going on.
Unspoken, yes, but not unknown,
Audacious love – so new, so new.

The one who didn’t have time to write,
What happened to that Misra, hunh?
He came so far, and waited too,
This leisured love – so new, so new.

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Translated from my Hindi poem, नई नई

naī-naī

rukte hue lab, bhaTaktī niGahein
dil mein ulFat naī-naī hei.
taqalluF bhī hei, betaqalluFī bhī
āj mohabbat naī-naī hei.

battiyān hein āgey, sitārein hein ūpar
par hei chamak sirF ānkhon mein.
CHūne kī koshish, CHup jāne kā man,
bechain ye hasrat naī-naī hei

kacchī hei keirī, namkīn hei lab,
kyā khūb talab in ānkhon mein.
bhulāke log, bhulāke sharm,
dabang ye harqat naī-naī hei

iskī angūTHī uskā angūTHā,
kyā kyā hei darmiyān inke?
patā bhī hei, kehnā bhī hei,
izhār kī zurrat naī-naī hei.

jisko likhne kā waqt na thā
huā kyā usko misraji?
dūr bhi āyā, intezār bhī kiyā,
lagtā hei Fursat naī-naī hei