Heartfelt Poems About Kashmir
The beautiful and bloodstained Paradise on Earth
About Kashmir, Sufi poet Amir Khusrau once declared:
“If there is a paradise on earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this.”
Nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, The Kashmir Valley is a region celebrated and esteemed for its ineffable and incomparable aesthetic wonder and charming beauty. Lotus-filled lakes, acres of Mughal gardens, mighty snow-capped mountains, rich saffron fields, vibrant meadows, and crystalline glaciers are just some of Kashmir’s natural features and landscapes that warrant it Khusrau’s title of Paradise on Earth.
However, Kashmir’s ‘paradise’, is, in many ways, brutally violated, and its peace, plundered. Since 1947, it has too been an abode of bloodshed, conquest and conflict, with India occupying it, and Pakistan and India warring over it.
Flourishing meadows, stark mountains and vast fields are motifs of freedom, but with hundreds of thousands of military forces scrutinising Kashmir, freedom can feel like a faraway and elusive force.
Nonetheless, beyond each blossoming lotus, flowering field and wide-eyed smile, lies a story. A story of Kashmir.
1. The Lamb of God
Rain rains stolen arrows at some war,
to dye red this winter its white-fall.
Till no place is left for flowers and trees,
Crumbling bricks of love, gardens potters fields.
The Lamb of God is yet to bring peace.
— Mohammad Tabish
2. Sullen Joy
Birds chirp there and mountains sing
Yet the sky cloudy with a murky ring
Shine from fields total new
From the greenery pleasures yet a few.
Spring seasons in full swing leap
Blossoms on trees, yet they weep.
Minds rest in the complete ease
Yet they remain destitute of peace.
Get the destiny, lose it meanwhile
Happiness earned full of guile
Voices rebound instead of being mute
Tunes played but sad ones on flute.
— Dr. Sanjay Parva
3. In Kashmir: Writing under Occupation
they exhort us to write. and write. in blood.
of peace. of tulip gardens they grew on soils made fertile with our flesh, and bones.
and write. when they, are at war with us.
— Ather Zia
4. Winter Took Over
I was enamoured
By the sirens,
Of the lake.
For stars danced wild,
While the water was still
A murky mirror
With sweet lotuses
And all of their stains,
A flaming sunset
That cloaked the grief
Of howling salesmen
The eagle’s lullaby
Disguised a wife’s cry.
Tulips twirled blissfully
’Til their demise
Frost crept over the roses
Your red heart
Became black
As winter took over.
— N. Hinchliff
5. Red Road
The delicate streets of Kashmir
Enrapture me with splendour
With the sunset’s golden chandelier
A lake of lotuses, resilient and tender
I inhale the crisp Himalayan air
With the fragrance of every flower
As the wind plays with my hair
More beauty blossoms, with each hour
I observe the dance of willow trees
They embrace, together they sway
Stirred by an ethereal breeze
Summer’s breath into sorrow’s day
But then,
The tantalising tango must swiftly end
Summer must flee, and the willow weeps
Wounds of sorrow may purge and mend
But not the looming winter that sweeps
Leaving nothing but ash and dust in its path
The pastel hues fade, stained by magenta wrath
For the colour of the rose, rich and bright
Mimics the red roads, soaked with blood last night.
— N. Hinchliff
Kashmir is, essentially, a region of stark contrast and profound and poignant paradoxes. For beauty exists despite its bloodiness, and faith, tenacity and inner peace can be seen in its local residents, amidst the outer annihilation.
Fragments of paradise can be found, despite the most hellish of horrors.
Hope can be reignited, when all hope seems to have been forsaken.
Kashmir is a place that beckons your soul, stirs your spirit, converses with your heart and dwells in your mind, long after your body has departed.
