For You - Agha Shahid Ali

Did we run out of things or just a name for you?

Above us the sun doubles its acclaim for you.

Negative sun or negative shade pulled from the ground . . .

and the image brought in one ornate frame for you.

At my every word they cry, "Who the hell are you?"

What would you reply if they thus sent Fame to you?

What a noise the sentences make writing themselves --

Here's every word that we used as a flame for you.

Because in this dialect the eyes are crossed or quartz,

A STATUE A RAZOR A FACT I exclaim for you.

The birthplace of written language is bombed to nothing.

How neat, dear America, is this game for you?

The angel of history wears all expressions at once.

What will you do? Look, his wings are aflame for you.

On a visitor's card words are arranged in a row --

Who was I? Who am I? I've brought my claim. For you.

A pity I don't know if you're guilty of something!

I would -- without y our knowing -- take the blame for you.

Still for many days he rain would continue to fall . . .

A voice will say, "I'm burning, God, in shame for You."

Something like smoke rises from the snuffed-out distance . . .

Whose house did that fire find which once came for you?

God's dropped the scales. Whose wings will cover me, Michael?

Don't pronounce the sentence Shahid overcame for you.

for Michael Palmer

---

Agha Shahid Ali (1949 -2001) India (lived in USA)

Source Jackdaw's Nest

Michael Palmer is an American poet and translator, born 1943. He has worked extensively with Contemporary dance since the 1970s and has collaborated with many composers and visual artists. Not to be confused with Michael Stephen Palmer (1943 - 2013) who was an American writer and doctor.