by Muslim Rizvi
Last night it was thunder
Lightning and rain
In the city’s suburbs
In a dark lonely lane
It’s the edge of the night
And the nascent sunlight
Is searching for way
To make it a day
Clouds that surround
Are scattering away
Less grievous, relieved
With a heart void of fear
Of far and of near
Having shed every tear
The last falling drops
from the shades of the shops
on a torn x-ray sheet
in the side of the street
makes music so queer
so bitter so sweetIn a dump just nearby
some old tins rattle
two starved dogs fight
and one flees from the battle
Drenched and cold
It limps all the way
Towards a little girl
Sleeping a few feet away
In a dark wet corner
With her head on a rock
Beneath the dripping shelter
Over the sidewalk
A sweet little child
Alone in the wild
Out all alone
All on her own
Lost in the riots
So wet and so cold
With no one beside her
And no one to hold
Some dust and some tears
Smeared on her face
And an old school bag
Left in her embrace
The dog comes to her
Smelling it’s way
Smells her a while
And then walks away
Last night it was thunder
Lightning and rain.
Photo Credits belong to Abro
@Whole lotalove,
Misery painted in Pakistan
Makan-o-lamkani, khired ki tishna-geri,
wabal-e-jan banti ja rehi hay,
Chamakti hay siyasat, falsafion ki
Kahan say lai’gi ye kapra-o-roti
jab bashir hi ko mayassar
ne ho maka’n uska.
It is what we are forgetting in our hectic humdrum of life today, the inherent rhythm of life with the sensitivity of human kindness – the muse, the poetry. Keep it up dear Rizvi. We need it much today.
Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate your input. I wrote this in 1996. I stumbled upon it a few days ago and thought it is still relevant and wanted to share at Pakistaniat.
Regards
It is light and lovely. As Naseer says it needs some correction.
Even to my unpoetic ears the first line will sound better along with others if we add an “a” in between “for” and “way”:
Is searching for a way.
Don’t take it seriously. I am not a poet.
“Is searching for way
To make it a day
Clouds that surround
Are scattering away”