“Hey, don’t you have something you’d like me to play? I can play it for you...”
POETS’ CORNER
By Ogden Nash
The people upstairs all practise ballet
Their living room is a bowling alley
Their bedroom is full of conducted tours.
Their radio is louder than yours,
They celebrate week-ends all the week.
When they take a shower, your ceilings leak.
They try to get their parties to mix
By supplying their guests with Pogo sticks,
And when their fun at last abates,
They go to the bathroom on roller skates.
I might love the people upstairs more
If only they lived on another floor.
By Abid Agha
Every weekend, I used to visit
My favourite park by the Danube River,
Where I could sit for hours,
Listening to the stunning notes of a street violinist.
Her music always made me stay—
Right up to her final song of the day.
One day, while she played,
She suddenly paused, walked over, and asked,
“Hey, don’t you have something you’d like me to play?
I can play it for you...”
Surprised, I murmured cheerfully,
“Yes, sure… could you play Lionel Richie’s ‘Hello’—
‘Is it me you’re looking for?’”
“Of course,” she replied, with a vibrant smile.
Her fingers danced as she closed her eyes,
And my favourite song came alive on her violin.
The magical notes carried me into another world.
Then suddenly, the violin stopped.
I looked at her—
Her eyes were wet.
She apologized softly,
“Did you like the notes?”
I smiled gently,
“They were more than amazing...
They felt like they were meant for me.”
She raised her violin toward me,
Then silently disappeared into the dark.
The noisy tides of the river
Still echo with her mark.
By Esha Bakht
I miss the old me
Strong and resilient,
Unafraid of the world,
Bold and brilliant.
I had attitude and spark,
A fearless kind of glow,
With unshaken belief
That things would surely flow.
Even in the depths of grief,
I never let doubt take control.
Hope lit the darkest days
And strength filled my soul.
But those days are gone,
Faded like a distant song.
By Nazish Sabir
I lost that smile amidst the torture
I lost my senses when my body
Went shaking
I lost the desire to live
When all I saw were broken souls
And lies around
Where wounds smiled and scars waved hi
My mistake was to say no to lies
And my weaknesses were my only rights
But now
I have lost it
Lost the patience to withhold the cries
Lost the courage to live by
Lost the hope to never sigh
I have lost myself amidst these pricky cries
That always come and go by
But never ever stop waving me hi.
For women still living in the shade of violence and abuse.
