Thoughts in Bonsai: Thirty-Nine

1. Where shall I find that mirror
which shows not the face when I look,
but lets me see what lies within?

Because I thought you were such a mirror,
today I misunderstand myself entirely!

2. God could not change even one human being,
yet humans today are changing thousands of gods!

3. The world's greatest treasures remain invisible!
We only know of these:
those who are alive, those who are not,
and...not time, but clocks!

4. I can live alone, you may go!
Spread your wares of lies before your mirror—
you'll find buyers!

5. Whatever gathering I attend these days,
I find no one there except myself.

6. Not all of mother's prayers carry the shadow of father's truths.
Otherwise, why would the day of becoming a mother be separate from the night of becoming a father!?

7. Tell the wind that though it can extinguish all outer lights,
it has no power to put out the inner light!
The one whose words make my hair fly and drive me mad—
she has no inner light at all!
When did the wind become so devoid of self-respect!?

8. Brother, you read the Gita, I read the Quran.
If our homes had been switched right after birth,
I would have been Hindu, you Muslim!

9. Don't ask to know my story just yet—
first know me, then learn the story!

10. How strange our relationship is!
We both sit waiting for each other all day long,
yet neither finds time to see the other!

11. We never meet, never speak,
yet the relationship somehow endures!
They've lived under the same roof for eleven years,
yet they've never laid eyes on each other till this day!

12. What value has a blood relation
that gives no value to blood itself!?
Only that relationship deserves to be called blood relation
which can shed blood for the sake of the bond!

13. She burned all the poems you sent.
Don't think she did it because she couldn't bear my ex.
Her anger actually stems from the helplessness of not being able to write poetry!

14. My innocence didn't just vanish suddenly—
paying many prices, I lost it one day.
When I was simple, you called me a fool;
now you call me clever!
Long salute to your judgment!

15. Time, don't test my patience so much.
If I turn around even by mistake,
I'll strip you completely naked before everyone!

16. Everything will change,
but I will not change at all!
Then how will you show your face, tell me?

17. Because my mother's blessings are with me,
today I receive the blessings of so many mothers!

18. When I leave home,
even if I leave everything behind,
my mother's blessings travel with me always!

19. I bow my head before God
not to please God, but to keep myself content.
I place the dust from mother's feet on my head
not to make mother happy, but to keep myself alive.

20. Every time you told me,
"Because I love you, I did this for you,
I did that for you..."
every time, my mother's face floated before my eyes.
Poor soul, she never kept any accounts!
Now how can she prove her love to me!?