Book Madness, by Lorette C. Luzajic, Translated into Urdu by Saad Ali

Book Pile 26, by Ephraim Rubenstein (USA) contemporary. Click image for artist site.

​کتاب دیوانگی
میں کتاب خانے کے اندر گئی
میرا ارادہ تو نہیں تھا، مگر میں گئی
میں نے وہ سب دیکھا جو میں ڈھونڈتی تھی
کتابیں جن سے میں جان چھڑا چکی تھی
اور جگہ بنانے کی دیوانگی میں
شیلوز کے لئے جن پہ اوروں کے لئے جگہ تھی
میں نے انھیں دوبارا خریدا، اور اپنے گھر میں
فرش پر اور زیادہ ڈھیر لگا دیں

Transliteration:

Kitab Dewaangi

Mai kitab-khanay kay andar gaee
maira irada toh nahein tha, magar mai gaee
mai nai wo sub daikha jo mai dhoonti thee
kitabain jin say mai jaan churah chuki thee
aur jagah bananai ki deewangi mai
shelves kay liay jin pay auron kay liay jagah thee
mai nai unhain dobara khareeda, aur apnay ghar mai
farsh par aur zaida dhair laga deein.

Book Madness

I went into the bookstore
I didn’t mean to, but I did
I saw all that I looked for
The volumes I had gotten rid
Of in a frenzied purge for space
For shelves that had some room for more
I bought them back, and at my place
Heaped piles further on the floor.

Lorette C. Luzajic, translated into Urdu by Saad Ali

The English version of this poem was first published in Aspartame, by Lorette C. Luzajic (Mixed Up Media Books, 2016.)

Saad Ali (b. 1980 C.E. in Okara, Pakistan) has been brought up in the UK and Pakistan. He holds a BSc and an MSc in Management from the University of Leicester, UK. He is an existential philosopher-poet. Ali has authored four books of poetry i.e. Ephemeral Echoes (AuthorHouse, 2018), Metamorphoses: Poetic Discourses (AuthorHouse, 2019), Ekphrases: Book One (AuthorHouse, 2020), and Prose Poems: Βιβλίο Άλφα (AuthorHouse, 2020). He is a regular contributor to The Ekphrastic Review. By profession, he is a Lecturer, Consultant and Trainer/Mentor. Some of his influences include: Vyasa, Homer, Ovid, Attar, Rumi, Nietzsche, and Tagore. He is fond of the Persian, Chinese and Greek cuisines. He likes learning different languages, travelling by train, and exploring cities on foot. To learn more about his work, please visit www.saadalipoetry.com.

Lorette C. Luzajic's creative writing has been widely published in hundreds of literary journals online and in print. She has been twice each nominated for the Pushcart Prize and for Best of the Net, with one poem making it to finalist. She has five poetry collections, two of which are ekphrastic: Aspartame and Pretty Time Machine. Lorette is the founder and editor of The Ekphrastic Review. She is also an award-winning visual artist whose works have been collected in at least 25 countries. Visit her at www.mixedupmedia.ca. ​