I felt like the first day in a new school. Strangers surrounded me as I walked in the halls of that unfamiliar place. At one side, I saw girls in groups, applying make up on their rotten faces. On the other side, there were guys who were scratching their skins to remove the burnt marks of kisses.
I shivered to see that sight. Everyone around me looked so ugly. Some of them had curse words tattooed on their foreheads while some were tortured badly.
At the end of the hallway, I entered a room. I coughed as I felt smoke rising inside.
"Where am I?" I managed to ask between all the coughing. My body turned numb when I heard a whisper, "It's hell, darling."

I have lived a thousand lives and died a million deaths.
And somewhere in between, I finally found myself.

The sky roared outside as if the world was ending. She knocked on stranger's doors for help hoping someone would take her in and provide her some shelter for the night.
Deprived of sleep, he was awake, watching the news when he heard someone knocking his door. He went to open it and was surprised to see her standing in front of him asking for help. He invited her inside and gave her a towel to dry off as he prepared some hot chocolate for both of them. She's so young, he thought. Must be a lucky night.
When he returned, he found her looking at his old pictures hanging on the wall. "What are you looking at?" he asked. "Nothing. You have a beautiful family" she smiled. "Had." he corrected.


The thunderstorm came to rest as she dragged his body in the backyard and whispered, "Thank you for the hot chocolate daddy. It was just as I remembered from my childhood memory, before you left us."

Sound of a gun echoed deep
while the whole city was fast asleep
screams and cries and more firing
people injured while tons of dying
A war for peace with an unknown rival
destroying so many families and leaving them so critical
Why were they killed? What was there crime?
They were just innocent people busy in their lives.
Having fear in their hearts, they are still ready to give their lives.
If that is what it takes to end this blaze.
I just pray that someone hear the pleas
of the brave survivors living in Karachi.

Mrs. William asked her students to share their dreams, one day. She smiled as she heard those innocent souls walking to the front and telling their dreams.
"I dream about racing cars, Mrs. William."
"And I dream about being a fairy!"
The colorful aroma of the classroom turned dark as soon as she asked about the dreams of the kid sitting at the last seat.
With untidy clothes and messed up hair, he got up and whispered,
"I dream about the dark things like my father beating me up and my mother always screaming. "

Sometimes all we need to do is to wander off
to a place of our own
in our twisted and dark thoughts.
Just to see the light in our life
that we seem to ignore
and cry about.

People tell me that I write words that leave them breathless
as they crawl down their spine, kissing their hearts.
Little do they know that the same words escape by
flowing in my veins and reach out as they tear my flesh apart.

I stood in front of the mirror but I couldn't recognize the face looking back at me. Those dark eyes, completely black, making holes in my flesh just by looking. The curls falling on her shoulders perfectly. Her face white as a ghost and lips red as blood. The scars on her face, screaming out the tale of her sufferings.
I touched my face and so did she.
"Who are you?", I asked her in confusion.
The reflection smiled and leaned in as if coming out of the mirror and whispered, "I am the monster that he turned you into before leaving."

Oh Madam Honk,
I was thinking about you last night
and how you taught me things
about this life.
I miss you more than those lesson that
you gave me as a gift
Now I know that
I was wrong and you were right.

They tell me I create magic with my words
They don't know that you are the one
providing me the magic dust.

I want to get high with a stranger
and spill out my deepest secrets
to him as I make him
fall in love with me.
The stars and the moon that witnessed
our love will now see
how I leave everything behind
and turn my life
into a tragedy.

I ran to the washroom and locked myself in. The tears started rolling down my cheek. I tried breathing but instead I puked. I puked blood. My mouth tasted like rusted iron. "God, what is happening to me?" I couldn't control myself and I puked again and again until I lost the count and crashed on the floor.

I woke up in the pool of my own blood. It was dark yet I could still see the shadow. It approached me slowly and bent down to my level. I tried getting up but slipped and fell back in the puddle. It slowly raised his hand and caressed my cheek.
"You are being punished for your sins, sweetie."
With that, I puked blood again but this time it tasted sweet.

I found myself crying for you again
It hurt a bit differently this time
I might forgive you someday for breaking me
But I am sure my Lord will never do the same.

Winter reminds me how much
I miss your warmth
and right now I am freezing to death.

He was scared of dying and she was scared of living
Together they found love in the state of oblivion.

Like a spider he crawled
and made his net
with strands as strong as steel.
Then he waited for his prey
as he disguised as a butterfly

And I was the unlucky one flying by
on that lucky day.

The world spun a bit too fast maybe
that the lipstick marks turned into cigarette scars.

You buried the person I fell in love with.
I buried the part of me that got affected.

How many marks will you cover to forget my existence?
My love, I've branded you with scars that are a part of your soul.

Destroy all the mosques, the temples and the churches.
And this world will itself witness the difference between
the men of faith and the hypocrites.

I was sitting alone in the bar watching people getting wasted when she came and sat right next to me. I didn't notice her much until she asked me, "Can I buy you a drink?"
I looked at her and smiled, "What's the occasion?"
"Nothing, just finding a perfect way to finish my celebrations ."

And that was it. A drink led to a couple of more till we were no different than the people in the bar.

Around 3 at night, I woke up from what seemed like a dream and found her sitting in front of the mirror. I watched her as she brushed her hair and colored her lips red again.
"Where are you going?", I asked her as she got up to leave. My question made her stop in the door.
She didn't turn back, just whispered,
"Where all the dead people go."

On a cold night he sits at a side of the road
covering himself with torn newspaper silently praying to God.

"Dear God today I was lucky after a very long time.
I found a penny alone like me so shiny and bright.
I looked around and took it knowing it was wrong.
But I was starving for so many days that I even lost the count.
I felt proud as I entered to buy rather then searching bins.
It felt as if I own this world but please don't consider it a sin.
The happiness of holding that penny in the hand was the best ever.
I got a little selfish and didn't thought to share with others.
I thought to save it but couldn't control and bought a sweet.
Ah! It tasted much better than rotten meat.
I licked it a little and saved it in my pocket for the whole day.
It even fell in sand but I couldn't just lose it that way.
I was so lost so excited that I forgot to thank You.
But now I realize that I should share my feelings with You too.
So many things to sorry for but I'd thank You first for making me so lucky.
When I opened my eyes this morning, I never thought I'd find a penny.
Rather than asking a comfortable night I wish to be lucky again.
I wish that tomorrow at the same time I won't be hungry again (Amen)."

It was the third consecutive night that he was coming with a bottle of wine in his hand and his sorrows thrown out in the river.
He grinned as he saw her laying there so peacefully. "You should have slept, why are you still up?"

He took his tie off and sat besides her, "I am sorry baby, I am late. Let me tell you a new bedtime story.
Look at me my sweet pie, won't you forgive your daddy?"

He laid besides her and caressed her cheek,
"So, once upon a time there was a princess. Her daddy loved her more than anything. He'd come home daily and bring her gifts. She'd hug him tight and say 'Daddy you're the best.'
Until one day when daddy returned and saw her little princess all grown up. 'You can't control me dad! This is my life.' She was going to marry a guy that he didn't like.
But how could she do that? For him she was still a little child.
He never wanted to hurt her but she wouldn't listen. She was going to fly away and he couldn't let that happen.
He just wanted to tell her that he had the right to control her life. So he did something terrible that night."

With that he smashed the bottle on her grave.
"See how much I love you my little girl? Now you'll never be running away."

With a broken heart, he entered the cafe. A gush of wind kissed his face but he was too lost to notice.

"What would you like this evening, sir?", the waitress asked him cheerfully.
He kept staring his hands as he said, "Just a cup of tea."

He wondered how he'd ended up this way? Last night, everything was okay. When she suddenly climbed out of bed and went away. He woke up to an empty bed and a letter left in the hallway.

"Here's your tea, sir.", the waitress interrupted his thoughts.
"Thank you.", he  whispered.

The sip of tea, went down his throat. The warmth somehow soothed the pain. His muscles relaxed and he smiled to himself.

"Excuse me, ma'am.", he called out the waitress.
"Yes?", she replied as she returned from doing tables.

An awkward silence followed. Maybe they stared for a bit too long.

"Do you need anything else, sir?"
Butterflies invaded his stomach as he blurted,
"Yes, I need love."

Instead of collecting
coins in their piggy banks,
They were the children who
collected wishes and dreams.
There was no sound heard
when they shook their boxes
Only some innocent smiles
on their faces were seen.

"As the temperature drops down, the molecules get closer till they form a solid shape."

And that's how our chemistry teacher defined 'love' on a snowy day.

Like a wave kissing the shore for a little time
and then leaving to return to the ocean,
He came into her life and touched her soul.
Now she sits by the shore waiting for him.

"What did she taste like?", they asked him after his first kiss.
"Dark like her words...."
That's all he could whisper as he drowned deep in abyss.

She entered her son's bedroom and found him playing hide and seek.
"Shhhh mommy. Don't make a noise, he'll figure out where I am hiding."
His mother smiled and ruffled his hair, "Okay sweetie, just come downstairs for dinner when you're done playing."

"Honey, what's our son up to?", her husband asked her while reading the newspaper.
"The same like always, playing with his imaginary friends.", she laughed.

Inside the cupboard, their hiding place, they whispered slowly.
"Don't tell mommy that we play together, she'll think you're crazy."
"But you're my brother, I am sure they'll be very happy."
"No. You don't get it, for them I'll always be the dead baby."

Who are you to say that you know me better than everyone else?
Even my shadow is unaware of my doings when I enter the darkness.

Tonight I am wandering like a drunk in the streets , honey
hoping to find that shooting start that brought you to me.

They said it was his last cigarette killed him.
But I believe it was the first one
that he smoked back in his youth for the girl
who broke his heart.
Whereas he smoked the last one yesterday
when he thought he could have a fresh start.

For Him, the pillars of these limited buildings could never be enough
That's why He chose to live inside a place as colossal as a human's heart.

Sometimes I get tired of pretending to be stronger than I am.
So I stroll into a dark corner taking the heavy armor off
as I allow my demons to take over and control me for a while.
I please myself with some moments spent alone.

And when all the marks and wounds of war have washed away,
I dress up and take charge of myself, pretending to be strong again.

There's a mason jar under my bed
It lights up every night
There's a part of your soul I keep in there
It reminds me of your secret side
That no one but I had seen
In the darkness of the darkest nights
That part of your soul now belongs to me
So don't worry darling, everything will be alright.

Just don't forget about it someday
I'd be waiting with that mason jar
on the rooftop that's painted with wishes
that we wished on those wishing stars.

He came back home, crashed on his bed. He then took his tie off and inhaled deeply. What a tiring day it was! He closed his eyes to drift off to a peaceful place when he was pulled back by the crying of his baby. The baby cried and cried as if he was screaming, struggling for his life. The man rushed into the next bedroom and found his wife curled up on the bed.
"What happened? Where is my child? Why was he crying so much?" The man looked around but could not find any clue of the child. He turned and ****** his wife, "Where the hell is my baby?", he screamed in her face but she did not open her eyes.
Her lifeless body slipped from his hands like sand and fell on the ground near the bottle of pills. Like the dead, he too collapsed on the floor.

The baby had stopped crying, he had finally met his parents.

We all are familiar to the storm that rises
inside us when the hell breaks lose.
An arrow shot straight into the chest,
A volcano erupting in the throat.
The flood that leaks from the eyes
and drowns the dreams hanging on lids.
That's when we hit the ground bottom
shattering into million of bits.

The mind said proudly,
"I am more powerful than you, see how I control this human being?"
The heart smiled,
"That's not your power rather your weakness my friend
for real power is controlling the soul which is unseen."

You don't limit your life to social media.
In reality, social media limits you to your life.
A selfie with this and a selfie with that.
Your life is race for comments and likes.
Instead of having a personality worth praising
You are now judged based on your social media profiles.

Status update: I wish I could visit Paris some day.
In Paris you're like, "Where can I get signals for wifi?"

Your achievements are unlocking new levels of Candy Crush
Is that the legacy you'll leave behind?
As if all these achievements will benefit you  
to unlock the doors of heaven when you'll die.
Your 940 friends won't be able to help you
by sending a booster or an extra life.

Relationship Status: Happily married.
Happy and married until the moment you both go offline.

You buy everything from behind the screen
Error 404: Cannot buy love and time.
It's a complicated maze that you won't accept
Even when they themselves call it a website.
You don't limit your life to social media.
In reality, social media limits you to your life.

These people in the streets call me from names, blaming me for blasphemy.
I don't blame them for their reflection in the mirror is different from the one that I see.

Every night, I please myself with a cup of wine
It removes all the pain and sorrows,
sending me off to a peaceful sleep.
And then I wake up every morning with a pure soul
and a pure heart like a new born baby.
They ask me why I drink
till I lose myself to subconsciousness.
I guess I can never explain them how
Love finds me whenever I am a mess.
It melts my heart with a warm kiss
that separates my soul from my body
Like a little particle of dust wandering
alone with the wind, alone but free.
A little particle of dust, that's what I am
Nothing greater than that in front of You.
And yet You bestow your love and blessings on me
I beg for forgiveness, before this I had no clue.
So here's another cup of wine, I raise it in the air
celebrating the love that I found tonight.
I know it'll make me lose myself again
But I am not scared to leave my body behind.

He left the girl who loved him more than her life.
On her funeral he said, "It's not my fault that she died."

Years later, he found a letter on his daughter's bed,
"Sorry daddy, I loved a guy who didn't care and left."

Dr. Zahid always came up with logical explanations
whenever his patients shared their dreams.

Until the day his little daughter walked into his clinic
and covered in colors, showed him her first painting.

The angels came down to me as I enjoyed the sleep
They woke me up and asked me to answer their quires.

"We've looked over your records and we don't know whether
to punish you with the sinners or reward you as the saints."

I smiled and told them, "O Angels of My Lord, I deserve to be punished
for I have sinned long enough that I had to change."

They mourned over her death
saying that this world lost a gem.
While the soil celebrated and welcomed her
as she made the Earth more poetic
than it ever was before.

He took out old pictures of her, one by one
Stared at them for hours, going through every detail.
Her deep dark brown eyes looking at him
And the silky waterfall of hair she had, took his breath away
Her delicate little hands, how much he loved them
And those soft lips that were a gateway to his heaven.

He sighed, putting the pictures back in the old trunk
He realized she was long gone now, never to return.

They ask me,
"What are these holes in your heart, darling?"
I tell them,
"I am a writer and my pen always needs a refill."