Poems by Kulwinder 

Two Ghazals 
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1
 
Sun-laurelled                       desert-wrapped
in life’s unending                wilderness
I make my way
head high
 
I’m not alone
worlds swirl around
my falling rising
feet
 
For ages
they’ve known me              lost
to forests of dead                hush
why look for me among festive crowds
in towns?
 
The thing you hold has no flame
no heat                               no light
why should I say you’re holding up
a torch?
 
Between dawn and dusk
day night                           dark light
the book of words too lives
           on strife
 
 
2
Unhelped
they endure in fire’s shadow
 
Land of rivers
rivers of sand
 
Forest burns
yet birds on trees
 
A city of light
dark-inhabited
 
Paper palaces
breeze-brought-down
 
Ashes of my stars descend
awake with fire
 
 
Translated from the Punjabi by Rajesh Sharma
 

Kulwinder has lived in the United States for over 40 years. He has been designing kidney dialysis equipment for nearly 38 years at Fresenius Medical Care, where he has held various technical and management positions. He holds numerous U.S. and international patents and has co-authored technical papers with leading nephrologists.
Kulwinder has published three collections of ghazals in Punjabi.
 
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An essayist, critic and translator, Rajesh Sharma teaches literature at Punjabi University, Patiala. He has published seven books, including Re-reading Aristotle's Poetics and Pash and Dil: Critical Essays and Translations.

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