Prayer and the Footprints of Defeat

१।
If my soul could cherish even a single line,
I would write, then, one poem after another, endless and mine.

२।
Begin your journey from the dust of the schoolhouse floor,
And dignity shall come one day to shake your door.

३।
The one I taught to speak, long ago, with patient care,
Now silences me with eloquence—a voice beyond compare.

४।
Your love has granted me
The courage to conquer even the sky.

५।
Sometimes, my beloved, you fall silent and still,
The music of your voice steals away my will.

६।
Look well upon this gathering, these faces, this hour;
My corpse will travel this very street, stripped of all power.

७।
What worth has death if it brings no peace?
What worth has life if the world does not cease
To tremble at its touch?

८।
Perhaps this time my soul shall yield at last to you,
Yet the world will never know the worth of this defeat so true.

९।
If once I could only touch those two eyes of thine,
Then all my prayers, all my longings would align.

१०।
I pray that every tear that falls from your gaze
Shall bloom one day as a blue lamp's blaze.