poems Dawn of Day The storm has blown away The night has passed away Look at the East and with joy, sway For it is, at last, the dawn of day Of misery and pain, of blood and war Has the world suffered a thousand scars The gloomy clouds hid every star The white flag made black with tar Formed again is the love that tore The dove has silenced the lion’s roar -- Muhammad Uzair Aftab (Lahore)
Lonesome Darkness A baby girl, frozen on piled rubble, is playing with broken mud-bricks. She stops at a sound, glances around, all she sees is rubble. Hills of rubble, nothing else. Windows, broken. Breaths, frozen. No mockingbirds that sing No friends are heard. She drops her head down, And restarts to play around. Dry brown tears staining her yellow cheeks clearly manifest why she has ceased to cry. A cruel wind blows a heartless night towards her side. Darkness swallows Everything bright. One more time she stops to look around, No mama is found. Lonesome darkness is all she can see. — Mujib Mashal (Kabul)
Mission Accomplished How can I forget those days, Spent away from home, in some distant land... Away from the loved ones, away from friends... Looking at the future trends, with a gleam in the eye and mission at hand. I walked on to my goal, only to find A new family to welcome, a new home. I felt elated, save the beauty of this place, But at the love and care distributed apiece, Love bloomed and blossomed and sang aloud: I am a Seed Of Peace, Seed Of Peace. Where was the anger, where was the jealousy, that thrust its venomous teeth of enmity? A foe of yesterday smiled calmly at me, And said, “Here’s a friend God left as a legacy.” There was a whirlwind of passion and unity ... The paternity of peace rose above each humanity.
This was where religions dissolve, boundaries melt... Where an era of friendship begins, The bright hue of the sun reaches, Even the suburbs of every heart... Clearing all fogs of discontentment and hatred. The mission I left home with, is long accomplished, my beloved. — Reshmi Mukhopadhyay (Mumbai)
Don’t watch them walk away watch them walk … but don’t stop them reach out your hand … but don’t touch them turn your back and walk the other way then you’ll be one with the world you’ll know where the neighbor went you’ll know where your best friend went because you have gone too don’t let them walk away stop them … reach out your hand and hold theirs don’t turn your back. be yourself … not the world don’t leave ... or you’ll find yourself alone don’t follow the world because they turned away let people follow you — Trishya Gandhi (Mumbai)
Art by Rawan Abu-Damons (Abu Dis)