About CC

Prof. Zafar Khan taught ESL and Linguistics in Indian and Nigerian universities. He is the Ex-Principal of Austin Peace Academy, TX USA. In 1982, he participated in a BBC Seminar on ‘Contemporary Grammar of English`, chaired by Prof. Randolph Quirk, Vice-chancellor of London University, gave a talk on All India Radio, Bombay on `Educational Trends in the Modern World.` He was interviewed by several TV channels as an ELT expert. Mr. Khan is author of books titled, ‘Thirty-Steps to Fluent Spoken English’, and ‘A New Companion to the Study of English Language and Literature.’ He can be contacted at zafar_khan1us@yahoo.com.

1. Spring

I hear the steps advancing

Who is knocking at my door?

I`m Spring!

The season of hope and joy

warmth and tenderness

light and brightness

I give life to the dead

smile to the sad

with God`s permission.

I`m Spring!

I radiate happiness

remove darkness

I’m the season of colours

buds await my coming

the breeze warms up once again

and kids dance to welcome me.

I`m Spring!

The season of love and beauty.

2. Tsunami

We watched helplessly your Tandav,

as you lashed ferociously

and destroyed, everything we could boast of

Who are you?

Are you the wrath of the Almighty?

or just a holocaust

or an atonement of our sins

Did you strike to humble us

and break our ahankar?

because we proudly strut and dance

on the sands of time

and challenge the power of God

or did you arrive to remind us ahead of time

that an apocalypse will soon engulf us all,

so, beware!

Your fury is a wake-up call

but don`t you know

that we are children of Time

who wake-up, laugh, and cry

and return to sleep again.

3. To a Rose

O Rose of Paradise!

Stare not at me

what can I offer thee,

human tears, not smiles,

I`m amorous of thy fragrance,

of thy beauty, and innocence

ask me not, to pluck you up

and dishonor

thy lovely grace

I`m a traveler.

Yes, I`m of rocky lands,

and thorny garden,

where the angels fear to tread,

and man is anxious in his sleep.

4. The Voice of Humanity

No bullet can silence

the voice of humanity

against a tyrant man,

a shot was fired

in a distant motel

but its echo resounds

in every corner,

and with this echo

his soul has passed

into a thousand unborn Kings

but can the spirit die?

No.

It is always reborn,

as in Buddha, Jesus, and Gandhi,

a shot is fired

and who can deny

he is not born in a distant land?

5. Aztec`s Talisman

I look at you, with eyes of wonder

as you chirp, squeak, whistle, and buzz

and flap your wings incessantly

empteen times in the flicker of the human eye

and move from one flower to another

searching nectar, singing, and dancing

forward and backward energetically

with your iridescent crown, and gorgeous feathers

O ruby-throated flying beauty

tiny, pugnacious, and jewel-like

most magnificent child of South America

beloved of native-Amercan Aztecs

O humming bird! Talk to me

in your charming voice

with your lovely dancing style

O flying beauty

you are the bird of paradise

flash of green and red ruby

I`m in ecstasy, come again, come again.