It will begin to bleed any breath now, Sun, the departing knight
To nest in the abundant womb of a tepid November night
On page 71, ‘Gahnati hui kokh ko mehsoos kiya hai’, in me shivers life
Maroubra-moon just reports ‘on-duty’, in a uniform patchy-silver-white
Like white frills sewn on edges, waves ebb in and away with reverence
Bowing to footprints of the day left on gold-speckled-sand
I reminisce the touch of his feet, a sense of veneration tides in me
Making me one with the deep-blue abyss of Tasman sea
Just then her eyes find me and Pukhraj, ah those vintage wrinkles
A book in Hindustani at the beach, her eyes little quizzical
My smile is carried to her by gold-bronze rays of the retiring Sun
She waves back and a fit-happy-Aussie life continues her run
Breath, pulse-rate, heartbeats - all in order, all harmonious
Ah, but 5 decades of Gulzar-less-ness!
Today, I shall let her hold ‘Pukhraj’, on the return-loop of her daily run
Just as the Southern star signals to the moon ’time to stand in for Sun’
Just as the day extinguishes and Maroubra-moon is the new Tzar
I shall say to her, ‘THIS is Gulzar’
Timeless as the Southern Star, in him resounds a multiverse
Limitless as the Tasman, in him let’s immerse
Our fugitive imagination is captivated by his words of high potency
Words wearing badges of immense honesty, integrity, transparency
Sanctity of emotions reside in his verses, like divinity in the temple
Imagery tranquil like twilight’s lamp, imagery with unmatched mettle
Earthen scent wafts from the rustic milieu his words paint
He imbues in us deep longing for longing and for pain poignant
Gulzar is an alchemist - I shall say to her
Only he can fuse perceivable senses into ethereal
In the fecund soil of his imagination, words flourish and prosper
On touching ‘Satrangi’ fingers of this septuagenarian gardener
In the moon-drops of his verses is locked the CODE of life
In the womb of his imagery quivers the DNA of time
The switch of night and day is in his jurisdiction alone
Gulzar remains the sole custodian of Maroubra-moon!