About The Huma

The Huma, is a mythical bird of Iranian legends and fables. Legend says, it lives its entire life flying invisibly high above the earth, never alighting on the ground (in some legends it is said to have no legs). The mythical bird is said to be phoenix-like, consuming itself in fire every few hundred years, only to rise anew from the ashes.The Huma bird is said to have both the male and female natures in one body. It is also believed that catching the Huma is beyond wildest imagination!

Retreat

In the heat of noon
I slowed down…

The life I ran stealing
From the fists of dawn
was still close to my bosom

Shook off the cobwebs
Sticking around
Turned back,
Time still lagged behind.

Looked around…
The strong hook there
I was told
Will now swing me safely
To fearless dusk

I hung the hook
To the back of my neck

Twilight was really cool
All heat given out
I just holed up
Hanging safely from the hook

Now with bones grown heavy
The life in my bosom
in my womb
The hook creaks

Back forenoon
I could’ve ...
Skipped my lunch
to cut down my weight

Found new spiders for cobwebs…
and grumble
that Im caught in so many of them

Or may be…
Gone for a better hook
(I was that wayward?)

As I turn around
I see countless replicas
Rotund and hanging
Corroded screeching hooks
Wombs put in irons

Then now..
The creaking hook around the neck
and the chain up from the womb…
Are safe enough to glide me through the dusk
To the night.