Sunday, December 18, 2011

Black Angel Wings

They come like an impending horror
Settle around you like death
Clench your heart
Suck your breath


They arrest your sanity
Steal you of speech
Leave you void
In an abyss far from reach

Black angel wings of disbelief
What you hear, what you see
Neither making sense, a felony
A dead spirit
Barren of sentiments
Mute in comprehension
Stripped of power
 As Black Angel Wings embrace me

Sunday, December 11, 2011

A connoisseur of light and shadow

A connoisseur of light and shadow
Blowing golden winds upon the temple of pain
Finding your way through the throng of words
Picking out the spark of fire from the pouring rain

A strum of the harp, a chime of color
The glass between honestly and a facade
Blowing petals of hanging cherry blossoms
Telling tales of brittle ancient forests clad

In the sea of candles the one reflecting flame
Among the thousand blue clouds the one hiding the rays
Wearing a halo of aspirations in the presence of time
Revealing beauty locked in a bottle of May

Be the wave upon wave, Light reflecting light
The discerning line dividing the horizon, playing each part
Be the cook of each culture, flavor of each emotion
The veins of each petal, the history of each bark

A connoisseur of light and shadow
Playing each second, writing each name
Lighting the candles
Being the flame

Maria Yousuf

Dedicated to Stuck In Time

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Uncertainty

Your ashes, my heart
Your memories I'd sought
I Wept and lived
I Sang and hid

From myself and you
From lies and truth
From the plank that led
To stark decisions and uncertainty

Will I sink, float?
Swim, reach the shore?
Will I survive, die?
Drown in misery yours or mine?

Stagnant waves
Smeared Ashes
A burnt picture
Scarred on my soul

Maria Yousuf

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Picture in the Frame

I lit our picture in the frame
Hoping to burn your memories
I watched our faces ablaze
Watched as they flooded me

My wet eyes said all in silence
Streamed over the almost burnt memory
I watched as the last traces shriveled in my hand
The ashes piled in agony

Felt my heart to see if you left
Heard my beat for your absence
To my dismay your burnt ashes now reigned
Became the sovereign of my presence

The picture in the frame
Now etched upon my soul
Engraved upon my heart
Made me whole

Maria Yousuf

Sunday, November 27, 2011

A Frozen Waterfall

Devoid of its Nature
Barren of its Essence
Hollow of the sentiments that once made it whole

Abandoned by the warmth
Laying in the cold
Piercing icicles of its past woes

Locked in its misery without release
Lost in a destiny stripped of speech
A frozen Waterfall preserved its soul
For summers to come and make it whole

Maria Yousuf

Friday, November 25, 2011

Where I choose to Stand

In tints of green and gray
The shore greets me
The tender waves bow below
Tickle my advancing feet

The rays of dawn kiss the rugged peaks that surround me
Create a halo around me
Make me giddy
Spread a smile

I loose myself in the tranquility
Feel the waves of joy rolling
I Loose myself in the rhythm and melody
Let them pull me into oblivion

Reality seems surreal
The existing hollow asunder
I rely upon beliefs in castles of sand
and wish to abide within

I can pick up a handful of sand
But never count the grains
one by one
a million to none

I can fling them in the sea
But in the end they will all come back to me
So I choose to blind them
Rid them entirely

I chase an illusion created with rainbows
Believe in my castles of sand
Never let the haze of my dream settle
That is where I choose to stand

Maria Yousuf

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Handful of Sand

She lets the wind dry her tears
Lets the sea sooth her
Lets the waves caress her feet
Lets the tranquility move her

Turns to see
The reason of her misery
Clenches a handful of sand
And Flings it against the wind

It all dissipates
Like the sand grains against the wind
It all scatters in an instant
That's How long Misery Lasts
Like a Handful of Sand against the Wind

Maria Yousuf

Monday, October 24, 2011

Give In

Most things are better left unsaid.
You feel your heart clench and hold in the scream that threatens to escape.
Ache spreads within but silence has you chained
Not allowed to say what you feel.
From the beginning to the end
You accept that hurt and make it your destiny, your fate.
You don't try because conscience has cuffed you
You don't try because the right decisions have seized you
You Don't Try, You Give In

Maria Yousuf

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Composed of You

You live in my every beat 
I may forget you in your silence
But when you reappear
Your presence reminds me 
That my heart is wholly composed by you
Every inch of my heart testifies
That you've come back
I am composed of you

Maria Yousuf

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Lets sink our feet in the grains of sand
Feel the warmth course through
Lets let the tides lap at our feet
Be alone with silence me and you

Maria Yousuf

Friday, October 7, 2011

An impending danger lurks and I follow into it sane
Just to be lost and not found again

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Lost in the maze of my identity
The maze that defines me
Following the print on my fingers
Incognizant to their presence

Maria Yousuf


It drips from the bristles onto the smooth surface
Sweet and bold
As it journeys further
It fades to weak
Life...watercolors

Maria Yousuf

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

I wouldn't want tears over my corpse
Wouldn't want wails biding me goodbye
I wouldn't want sorrow shadowing my coffin
Or thoughts of a sad demise

I'd want smiles on the faces of my fare wells
Would want joy to shelter my memory
I'd want gratitude for my final journey
And prayers of forgiveness as my canopy

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Make me not a memory or a dream
I was born to be buried
Am living to die
And breathing to be tested
Eventually, I'll fade away

Maria Yousuf

A pang of hurt
Breaks and spreads
Invites unidentifiable silence and tears

Maria Yousuf
My sentiments are easily bruised
Sometimes I know, often I don't
My throbbing silence testifies something is wrong

Maria Yousuf
Hurt courses through my veins
Stings my being
A splinter in my smile
Until it finds an exit through my tears

Maria Yousuf

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

The most secluded place is within yourself
When you pull yourself within no one can reach you
No one can hear you or know what it is you are going through
Since you know they may not always understand

Maria Yousuf
Sometimes you see the silent abyss
Hugging you, embracing you
And all you can do is give in

Maria Yousuf
You think silence will mend what is broken?
It will only wound all the more
And permanently engrave the scars

Maria Yousuf
Like a Sand Storm
Pricking my sight when its roaring
Uneasy & pinching
Silent remains when its over
Innocent, like nothing happened

Maria Yousuf

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Darkness will always be a refuge
For my tears
For my secrets

Maria Yousuf
I don't want silence to kiss my lips
Don't want to become a mute
I don't want void to echo my speech
Don't want words to transmute

Maria Yousuf

Monday, September 5, 2011

I can smell the winter coming
Feel the pleasures of heat
Hear the chilly mornings
See the whispers discrete

Maria Yousuf

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Lets ride the midnight
Ride upon the waves of the silver moonlight
Gaze at the songs in each others eyes
Live every moment as a lifetime

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

How I feel

I weep for your pain
Cry for your scars
So many broken hearts
So many hurt lives
The loss of a loved one
A sinnners identity
Only a few of the stories i have come across
And there are still so many
Whose to listen to whose to not
How to help them out?
How to eschew their ache?
What do i do for the pain i see
I can't live knowing someone is in misery :'(

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Break down your walls
Take off your armor
Abandon your ego
and show me who you are


Tuesday, August 2, 2011

I've begun to break away from you
I can already see the slow decomposition
I won't turn around and seek you
If I am lost in oblivion


Saturday, July 30, 2011

By far the hardest questions are the ones where you have to decide

The choice of one among many
The choice of best among beauty
But all gems own their own splendor
How do you compare excellence with excellence
Unique with special?
And amazing with wonderful?
The distinction of wanting and thoughts perhaps?
Or reciprocate what the inquirer wants

By far the hardest questions are the ones where you have to decide

Friday, July 29, 2011

I battle currents of wind and sea
Steer over defiant waves
But when the war wounds and kills me
A ship wreck is all it takes

Maria Yousuf

A crevice in my soul
A peek you take
But then I close it
And say it was all fake

Trickery and lies
My oldest games

Maria Yousuf
If I get imprisoned by silence, I'll never find a way out
My heart'll be sealed and my lips be locked
Lies or truth, feelings or thoughts
You wont ever find me in rain or drought

Maria Yousuf


Thursday, July 28, 2011

Words live longer than voices
Count your word not your volume

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Despite the broken links I still enjoin
It is not you who I expect from, its HIM
You chose to not give me smiles but I know HE will

Maria Yousuf

Silence has become my language
But I still communicate
Look for what I don't say
And you will hear me speak

Maria Yousuf
Who sings of my melancholy?
My lamenting woes and tears
Who wrung them into despair?
Your lies, stabs and fears

Maria Yousuf

Thursday, July 21, 2011

I am stained with my mistakes
With nowhere to hide and no escape
I yearn for time to rewind
And make me a spotless soul

Maria Yousuf

Sunday, July 17, 2011

We are like the shore and sea
Running parallel but never one
Knowing that, yet not accepting defeat

For miles we run side by side
Distinguished by dichotomy
The grain and drop, the wet and dry

We share moments in time over and over again
The sunsets and dawn sky
The silence and seasons’ lives

Our love
A compromise, a challenge
A force to be reckoned and strength to be envied

Maria Yousuf

I reside in an asylum of passion of your gravity

Saturday, July 9, 2011

You may not know when it disappeared but you will realize the change
Change is what I had feared and now nothing is the same
May it be for what you did or didn't do, nothing can help now
I'm hollow of the sentiments I once had, the thoughts I thought about

Sunday, July 3, 2011

A veil that covers my sentiments
A fake that wears my crown
Lies and unspoken words

A mirror that reciprocates my smile
Upside down into a frown
Unembraceable happiness
Before letting the ship sail
You hesitate to let the strong ropes slip
You will be standing at the dock after all
Watching it leave

Friday, July 1, 2011

Slaughtered hopes, gagged laughs
Stabbed happiness, silenced vows
Flying dead with Crimson wings

Maria Yousuf
After all the seasons pass
And the ripples settle
I'll stand my trunk in the midst of the pasture

Haiku By Maria Yousuf

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

You can survive alone but not live
To live is to share and rejoice together
Laugh and cry with some other
To lean on someone and get a hug
To spend time with timeless love
Live
I'd better stop living in your day dreams
No matter how lovely they maybe
Soon I'll have to wake up to reality
I am submerged as you float
Deep in the fog of illusion
Blinded to see only what I please
Paddling happily over the confusion

I maybe lost but I cant help it
I've tried to wave it off
The choices you make aren't always yours
You've found the path to Lost
Just like You can't say the punchline before the joke
Or reveal the mystery before the story
You have to wait for the perfect time to say how you feel

Friday, June 24, 2011

Silence, unspoken words
Smiles and tears
Unexpressed emotions, unexplained gestures
Trust and fears

Thinning the grins that made us squint
Erasing the memories that we built
Breaking the sand castles we spoke of
Washing it with the next wave

Maria Yousuf

Monday, June 20, 2011

I was a spectator in your circus show
Watched as you did what I asked you not to
But the consequences wouldn't be yours to face
You'd just walk away without a trace

You drew me in and left me standing
In the ring ablaze with fire
I hadn't learned those tricks, didn't know how
So I stood helpless without a savior

I stood among the chaos
The chaos that you had sparked
A penalty of you faults,
A penalty you had called

Maria Yousuf

Entranced, inebriated
Vigilant of what's happening
But incognizant of how

Haiku By Maria Yousuf

Sunday, June 19, 2011

I want to get away from recognition
Live in lost solitude
No one to quesetion me or worry unnecessarily
Be left alone... on my own

Maria Yousuf
I want twirl with the violent winds
Ballet with the intensity of a storm
I want to be inebriated with passion
Before my breath is gone

Maria Yousuf

Silence Scares Me

Silence scares me
Its static screams in my ears
Alerting me of the stark surroundings
It chokes me, encloses me
A reincarnation of my ancient enemy
It alerts me of the predator around me
The emptiness of nobody
I feel the palpable darkness
Of standing alone
Silence scares me
Scares me as it screams

Maria Yousuf
Whats not meant to be will never be
No fist full of sand will stay
No grain of time will sway

Haiku By Maria Yousuf
I don't follow constellations,
I make my own
And that one leads me to your heart

Haiku By Maria Yousuf
You see that cloud up in the sky?
The one that looks like a smile?
That's me when I'm with you

Haiku By Maria Yousuf
A soft ache, a tender tear
Finger loosely locked
The yearning to remain near
As Shakespeare quotes in Romeo and Juliet
"Parting is such sweet sorrow"

Maria Yousuf
In the heart of a bud of tender petals
Lies your vulnerable innocent beauty
You soul

Haiku By Maria Yousuf
I found a diamond
A diamond that outshone all gems and jewels
Your heart

Haiku By Maria Yousuf

Pot of Gold

It's the other side of the rainbow where I wish to go
To get that pot full of gold

The gold of your friendship and presence
The gold of our bond and understanding

All glitter may not be gold
But I know what is
You are...

You are My pot of gold

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Twin Poetry: Reality

Enveloped in the fog of dreams
Drenched in their belief
Lost on the path of fantasies
What is my reality?

Khawaboon key dund mey lipti hui
Unn key yaqeen mein bheeghi hui
Kahaniyoon ki rahoon mein khoeei hui
Kia hai meri haqeeqat?

Maria Yousuf

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Yeah...
You made me a stranger in your affairs...
Now you are a stranger in my life...

Haiku By Maria Yousuf
A friendship has faded
Vanished in the wind
When you don't feel like talking
Or know how to begin
So adieu to you
Eroded promises

Maria Yousuf

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

I want to tell you a tale
Tell you a story
With my Haiku Poetry

Haiku By Maria Yousuf
We are the tree
Never alone but always lonely
In the end its just us, our roots and nobody

Haiku By Maria Yousuf
When the festivity abandons
You see the vulnerability
A single trunk in your gallery

Haiku By Maria Yousuf

Seasons come and then they go
Fruitful moments, colors and songs
But they are never meant to last long

Haiku By Maria Yousuf

The bark is left bare
With pathetic stares
And no admiration

Haiku By Maria Yousuf
Slowly the leaves start falling
One by one
Down to none

Haiku By Maria Yousuf

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

White Rose

Upon a bed of water I float

As my fragile petals soak

But I travel far to return whole

For no matter how breakable, I have hope

Sunday, May 22, 2011

I will walk the path that is untreated
Rather than the one which is worn
I will choose the path which is guarded
The one no one chose

It maybe underrated and fenced
But I will know that I am safe
I will walk the path you didn't choose
But I wish the destination is you

Maria Yousuf

Saturday, May 21, 2011

I keep my heart guarded
Censor every word to what is right
I don't want to be caught guilty when I'm judged

Haiku By Maria Yousuf

Thursday, May 19, 2011

I am not a transparent crystal
You can't see through me
I am more of an opaque stone
You see what I let you see

I could have told you all so easily
But I'm glad you had to leave
I don't think I could have let you be
After all I could have revealed

Maria Yousuf

Monday, May 16, 2011

Encrypted Morse code

I tell you my secrets secretly
Send a Morse code for you to read
You read it all and nod in acknowledgement
But only I know what I have revealed

I encrypt my Morse code
Don't tell you anything at all
I encrypt it with antonyms
And spell it the other way around

I wish you would know the hidden note
Know what is spelled in decode
I want you to know but I don't want to say it out loud
I wish you would decode my encrypted Morse code

Soaring Wrong Winds

I'm at the edge of the cliff, ready to take off
I hope I don't begin soaring the wrong winds
Winds that I wasn't destined to fly with
Winds that weren't meant to elevate me
Wrong currents beneath my wings ascending me

I won't risk soaring those wrong winds
So I'll block their current or wait for them to pass by will
I wont risk gliding their flow to experience their thrill
I wont take that chance I wont take that risk
I won't let their allure drive me off the cliff

Cause

My curls fall over my eyes
My eyes feel a bit damp but I feel no need to cry
My heart throbs a little, slightly wounded, hurt
It feels bitter sweet, more bitter than sweet
No apparent reason why or why not

Can you be a stranger to your own feelings?
Or are you capable to ignore and overlook them?
Can your heart and mind confuse your sentiments?
Or can other reasons cause such a throbbing ache?
How can they resonate the same way as a heartache?

I can't reach the core of the cause
Can't figure out why
I am happy but I feel a little prick
A prick that tells me not entirely
It never felt like something more then why am I sad?

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Spinning crazy in your insanity
Mind stopping me?
This chair is beginning to hurt :S

Haiku By Maria Yousuf
I reveal history in dirt and bones
Unearth the secret of past lives
If only knowing you would have been as easy

Haiku By Maria Yousuf

Thursday, April 28, 2011

No matter how much I tell you
You wont ever know what I don't
The core of my heart
Only known to one


Sunday, April 17, 2011

Invite me to observe the sundial of your life
Or watch the sand grains count your day
Invite me to escape the gray under your umbrella
Or dance together in the rain

Maria Yousuf

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Spending time with time

I spend time with time
Live in the present
Perform the mundane tasks
Look for something exciting in the bleak
Search for happiness on every sidewalk and street

I spend time with time
Go through yesterday
Plan about tomorrow
Wish to travel back and relive the smile
Wish to go forward and kill the anticipation

I spend time with time
Count the blessings I had
The things that didn't go wrong
Things that did but could have been worse
And the things that made me happy and smile

I spend time with time
Wait for the next dawn
Look forward to the happy moments to come
Grateful for the next breath I breathe
And the life that I still live and feel

Spending time with time...

Travelling The Day

I sit up in that sycamore tree
Earlier than dawn to later than dusk
I watch the first pastel colors wash the sky
And watch the first grains of time go drip drop

I watch the descent of the sun
Watch the enigmatic colors light up
Watch the diamonds make way on black felt
Cushioned in that velvet

Till end I stay and travel the day
But all is too enchanting for me to not stay
So I decide to spend the night away
And watch the transition again from dusk to day
No matter which path you chose
Or destination you reach
You will always turn back to me

Haiku By Maria Yousuf

Thursday, April 14, 2011

You are a reflection of everyone and everything associated with you so be extra careful with your image, it is fragile...

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Being One With the World

I could sit here by the window and taste the breeze
Relax with the pastel of dawn and breathe the surreal calm
I could sit here and watch the world embrace love from the beginning and fall in love with its morning smile
Knowing its our time to share our locked up happiness and tears

I could sit here and wait for the orchestra to begin playing and the passion to rain
For the time when brilliance and exotic tango and for ardently displayed art
I could sit here and wait to watch the coral sunset dawn on my wall and sweep me into its surreptitious fantasy
Knowing that I'll be back with its whispered secrets.

Being One In The World will Never Equal to Being One With The World.

Maria Yousuf


Friday, April 1, 2011

You've got a Home in my memories
An abode within me
You've built my structure of Love

Haiku By Maria Yousuf

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

You linger on my mind
Not entirely there but present

You walk stealthily into my thoughts
Not an entire part but a fragment

You have sought a place in my sub-conscience
When I deprive you of the awareness of your existence

Maria Yousuf
Don't push me away
Or stand walls in between
Don't break my trust
Or assume what you haven't seen
Don't
Or you'll lose me forever

Maria Yousuf
Sometimes
Denial is a mask over your deepest wish
Refusal is a tomb encasing your heart
And Unwillingness is fright of rejection

Maria Yousuf

Don't Say No One Cares

You may walk around like you have no feelings
Act like you don't care that no one cares what happens to you
You may make people believe that you don't hurt anymore
Just because the past has broken you
But I know that you wish contrary to what you exhibit
Wish they had been there for you instead

I've got a message for you

If they weren't, we are
And always will be
We may not be bound by blood
But we stick together through thick and tough
So drop that guard and come on in
Our group hug awaits you and your happy grin :D

Don't ever say no one cares
That which comforts you could cause to become obtuse
That which may seem glaring could become your trigger

Maria Yousuf
Inebriated with adrenaline
Knowing it will only last a while
Awaiting the intoxication to wear off
And walk away with a smile

Maria Yousuf

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Nostalgic

A nostalgic feel
A breeze bound with memories
A bit sweet
A bit warm

Comforting
Like a warm embrace
Evoking
Exhuming emotions onto the surface

Recollecting old times
Preserved memories tears and smiles
Remembering it all and secretly wishing
To bring it all back again

Maria Yousuf

Was I wrong to stay away?
Was I wrong to keep safe?
From destructive trusts
And fake friendships?

Maria Yousuf

Friday, February 25, 2011

Don't use my vulnerabilities against me
Use the moments I shared
Don't use them to hurt me
Or you'll shatter my trust in whomever I care

Maria Yousuf

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Nocturnal Lights

The Dusk always dawns

And night always falls

You may wish it were always light

That the sun would never go down

But that’s the cycle of life


It’s when your stand in the dark

That you recognize your true friends

Know who stand by you and who leave

And as truth reveals

They all abandon you


Those whom you believed in

Or were the roots that held you

Were the trunks that supported you

Or the walls that listened

They all strand you alone


So when facing the dark

Don’t seek guidance elsewhere

Don’t ask for assistance

People may be there for a while

But then they all fade


They fade into their own lives

Seeking their own light and guidance

Asking for assistance from someone else

Finding roots and trunks to hold them up

And may be lost in their love


The guidance lies within

The nocturnal lights not only shine in the sky

But shine from within you too

They are the strength you own and the faith you have

The hope you harbor and the belief you grasp


Let them guide you

On the face of this earth

And the path you walk

Guide you to the path you seek

And the path you wish to follow


The nocturnal lights awaken when all else is asleep

When everyone leaves

They guide you when the night is blinding dark

And when you are alone

Let the nocturnal lights guide you tonight


Monday, February 21, 2011

The Sky is my Canvas

The Sky is my Canvas
When it awakens
It becomes an empty canvas
And the travelling clouds my art
When dusk dawns
And night falls
It reveals a new palette
Twinkling stars

May it be night or day
In the tundra or on the highway
I will always have a canvas to cast my art on
Clouds by day
Stars at night
Neither will ever be gone
The sky will forever be my canvas
No matter which path I am on

Maria Yousuf

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Sometimes I wonder my life is really bland
Without heartbreaks or future plans
And then I think The Great Planner has it all done
A plan and a future for everyone

Maria Yousuf