What potions have I drunk of Siren tears?
Shakespeare, Sonnet CXIX
Two thousand years ago, Ptolemy
traced the vagaries of the stars
and was left immortal for that
and I, too, yearn for the taste
of ambrosia. So here I lie, on
moonless nights, writing my
own Almagest, as I trace the
constellations formed by the
stardust of your nevi.
It’s only ghosts here in the winter.
BoJack Horseman
When you’re in love all this
“life” stuff feels like a play —
a game; a dream. And when
you’re not, it’s not. That’s just
how it works. Nights like these
I feel like I’ve forgotten how to
dream. I used to dream of flying.
I miss the wind in my hair, the
sun on my face. But most of
all, I miss your sighs; how the
longing in them would rise up —
up through the zephyrs and comets —
dissolving into stardust that just
might, with a bit of luck, power
the universe for an-
other heart-
beat.
Why do you love lighthouses
she said
what’s with all those maps of distant islands
she said
and those other ones of the stars.
I don’t know
he said
maybe
he said
maybe
I miss somewhere
he said
somewhen
he said
maybe that’s how nostalgia was born.
Adam’s lament for home and we
his children.
O, Majnun!
they said
why do you sift the desert sands
they said
you will not find Layla there.
And Majnun said:
I search for her
everywhere
in the hopes of finding her
somewhere.
In this age of starships and relativity
as we journey out into the dark
we should not be surprised if
on another world
our ships land on other shores and
beneath alien suns
we find our old friend Majnun
sifting through those alien sands
ever-searching
ever-seeking
his belov’d.
The Personal Blog of Shahzeb Najam, MD 