Lut gayi hai hasti apni ek numayish sey Darbadar bhatke hue hain aazmayish mein Bhoolte hain Uski wehshat ek surahi sey Khelte hain hum khilone gumraahi mein Aarahi hai nida-e-mehshar aasmanu sey Phir b hum bepardah hain maii khaanu mein Horahi hai sharm gayab aaj mehfil sey Lajawab hai aaj mashooq laakh aashiqun mein Horahe hain gumm jangal ab nighaahun sey Hai tadapti aaj koyal qaedkhaanun mein Horahi hai gumraahi hae ek kutub khwaan sey Daag hai qatl-e-kalam ka aaj darya mein Bewajah hai maat khaate aql-e-shaitaan sey Kho gaya wajud-e-insan aaj dunya mein Muskuraahat bhi hai bhaagey khauf-e-zaalim sey Badgumaani leja rahi hai aaj dozakhh mein Puujtey hain aaj buut ko jaah-o-jalal sey Masjidein band padh gayi hain shaukh-e-sanam mein Hai bhatakhta ek musafir misr-e-sehra sey Bhul gaya jo apne Rabb ko lutf-e-faani mein.

They tossed away carcasses Made the whole world watch blindfold Millions died yet no one cares What happened to humankind? Is it the virus or the apathy That kills and brings turmoil? Or is it disgracing those human shields Who stood ground for the nasty recoil? Did they ever think of lives Tricked, maimed, or took? Did they rejoice while feasting On animals murdered for looks? Now when everyone is huddled And piled up on the soil Can they justify luxury That makes innocent blood boil? They've set out nets Careless and selfish with their aim Not just to capture the dead But trap new shiny game When will they understand What future will they hold? For every life they take A price has to be paid ten-fold.

Whispers ran through the trees As it arrived, lazy winds at helm ‘Gather your coats, cover your eaves Wrap up ripe fruits and bees’ Tatters of leaves hung up at dawn Fluttered and moved with the breeze At midnight hour it seemed bizarre For the big bold moon gazed down to fawn Roosters at daybreak sang unbarred Boasting high and low their cooing charm Doves perched on rooftops stirred at rays Streaming down from the yellow star Walnuts and apples brimming with life Flocked with Chinars that quivered at noon And waves caressing a lone boat ashore Whistled flute tones as sharp as a knife A mellow dream, a glorious song Blissful cicadas and warm harvests Brown and red as earth comrades Autumn arrived betrothed all along. ADEELA HAMEED

Do you see? They don’t love you or care They have desires to quench Heads full of hate So their bellies are filled with filth Mixed with blood from your veins Their actions are starting to unravel What you have, what they crave Apart from looting your body and soul Nothing can soothe their wretched life Forever in misery, forever unhappy Burning innocent flesh to hide ugly scars They don’t love you or care The mask underneath has a thousand cuts Made by struggles of young blood Which they drank without lament Hideous faces plastered into wealth So the world would not see their leaking pus You could never live in peace before or after Your death is not what they want Temptations of the flesh, greed in heart Vicissitudes of time will definitely show Be gone Oh, martyr from this world This justice is not what you want A time will come for you although When you’d be the one in charge You will decide which mask to burn Which face to slash, which heart should fall What flesh to cut, which hands to maim Which eyes to gouge, whose legs to scrape You will never love them nor will you care Humiliate the law, fake justice and force Slice their heads, let them try stitching back Never can they undo what has been done Never will they be sorry or pledge to change Never will you see them plead out of guilt So don’t feel bad Just do what you want As now you have the power You have the right scales Judge them, don’t blink or think We have long since laid low in wait. ADEELA HAMEED

Across roofs, over the village sea Swift through an infinite maze of trees Wandered a pair of crystal eyes, set free To roam against the wind, beyond the breeze This twilight brought back memories Of winters spent and summers faded This magic unravelling narrated stories Of melancholy and cure when hearts were raided But believe, do trust, good times are near And among us live people bound to change Tales of our lives and what they bear With the power of love, not all that strange Kataware-doki, a time to heal wounded and weak A time worlds enlace as lights abate If miracle is the hope you tend to seek Find it this moment, it’s not too late. Adeela Hameed

She marches towards a tomorrow unknown She lost her years, her marrow and bone She loves yet suffers through lives she gave Still gazing at a sea of indifferent waves Bottled up emotions, discarded thoughts She gave away everything without any doubts With passing years, her seasons would fade Trudging hot sands without any shade Brought up lives inside hollow rooms She safeguarded them when shadows would loom But all her hands caught was only distress Of love and respect of which she got less Stones thrown her way did not cause harm As much as a thorn her society would charm Still undeterred and faithful to her name She spoke with patience and not her fame Struggling to get through an army of men She perched undaunted, amassing strength of ten She knew each corner, crevice and altar Where danger would lurk but she did not falter What manner or magic made her so bold Her stories don’t divulge this mystery untold Although lost, forgotten, maimed, inhumaned She did not cease to live or to be a woman. ADEELA HAMEED

They arrived with life and joy Surrounded by peace as it shone Above miseries and hardships to be thrown They grew within, unaware, unbeknown A time slip into the future now Where dreams are crucified at dawn Where beauty loses admirers to fawn And truth is linked to the devil’s spawn A love, pure but not unbreached A promise to live and die in peace Together and ever inked in schist But the petals keep falling, so does the beast Miraging opulence for righteous devotion Misfit souls are put together Thus losing their soulmates forever For formalities that don’t even matter Writhing in pain, wings clipped, lay two doves Grief in their hearts, will they perish? Or is hope as incredible as they say at finish To mend their wings and grant their wish All they had done was cross borders Of selfish walls, of hokum chores Of empty castles doomed at mindless shores To carve a way devoid of doors. Adeela Hameed

Just when the world stopped to feel right A moment in time when nothing thrived Pain and horrors held tight their grip And broken dreams slashed bodies like knives No hope came by, nothing left a soul A might of faith no one could own Caressing graves of forgotten goals Everyone tended to their unmended bones But there came a time when lights sparked Calming storms, clouds cleared away From beyond horizons was heard a sway A blaze of bright red to which wolves howled The red moon rose with its face of scars Beheld the earth, the people, and the ache Its time had come, it did not wane And the beaming rays undid all bars It was then that I looked up with tears The moon so far yet just within reach So I told it of the suffering that breached My life, my love, and my silent cries It was that autumn moon I saw It was that night the red moon rose When I gave up secrets of my friends and foes And my heart was rid of the doleful gnaw The moon told me so I could assure you all That the pain and horrors of unjust might Are about to be their graves’ delight And peace will triumph till the final call And peace will triumph till the final call. Adeela Hameed