BOOKS
by Gulzar
Translated by Tom Alter

books peep out from the glassed-in shelves of closed almirahs
how lovingly, how longingly

for months, now, we haven’t met

the evenings we always shared, the books and I,
now flash by on the computer screen

how restless the books have become!
they sleepwalk through the nights!

how lovingly, how longingly
they gaze out upon the world   

the values, the joys they always spoke of —
whose every molecule was eternal —
have vanished from the house

the relationships they told of
have all unraveled, one by one 

when i turn a page, there is a sigh, a sob
sustenance

the meanings of so many words have fallen to the ground