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 face
Ready to give their life
If it takes to end this blaze
I just pray
That someone hear the pleas
Of the brave survivors
Living in Karachi

"What is Heaven? What is Hell?"
"Two different names for one place; Home."

I wrap myself around
in this ***** bed sheet as I
try to be a part of
a perfect family picture.
This is how it goes  
every one taught me
that you're supposed to just smile
pretending to be happy.

she wanted to discover all the abandoned places
with ghosts still lingering on the balconies
waiting for their lost lovers of youth.

she wanted to feel the thrill tensing up her body
as she walked in those unfamiliar tracks
humming the forgotten haunting tunes.

and I bet
that she would have forgotten
all those sites
only if she had ever dared enough to
once explore this deserted soul.

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.

misfit wanderers lost in their dreams
collecting broken pieces
gluing them with words.

masters in the art of being faceless
singing the songs
of the unheard.

silent souls affected in tragic ways
seeking a painful solace
drowning themselves in the flood.

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.

Fire the **** gun and put a bullet in my head
Make another hole in that empty thing
I'll smoke the pain away in the shadows of the night
And we'll smile at each other again pretending to be fine.

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

Read
till the words
are tattooed on your skin
and the ink is absorbed in your blood.

Read
till the stories
are your reality
and the characters make you fall in love.

Read
till every page
is familiar to you
Like your arteries and veins.

Read
till the last breath.
Then pick up a new book
And live again.

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."

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."

O you Human, ask yourself,
What does this world mean to you?
Is it a garden or a dessert?
Is it hope or despair?
Is it love or hatred?

Remember, your world is
your own reflection.

i blame the stars
and you blame me.
drunk
with broken hearts
we both try to find
solace

And when the storm came
I crashed into myself
like the ocean waves.

She's a poem that I like to read over and over again on these lonely nights when I have nothing else to do.
I have her best verses tattooed on my skin in form of scars that I can't remove.
And whenever I am kneeling in the pool of my own tears, she's the prayer that I only know.

She's a poem that I like to read over and over again till I lose myself into the words that were once mine but no more.

Tear off these clothes from your body
And let the warm water wash the stains
From your skin as you sink deeper
In the bath tub of sorrows and pain.

"Sir, do you know that lady in black?"

A volcano erupted, a glacier melted.
The world came crashing down on him.
The time stopped and he got lost
In a flashback of the memories
that he had buried.
A candle danced, his animal advanced.
Every single wall turned into dust.
In the dark, he lost his guard
and loved her till
he fulfilled his lust.
The fire stub out, minds filled with doubt.
The space between them started to grow.
He aimed the darts and broke her heart.
She entered the darkness
and turned all cold.

"I am sorry sir, but I don't think I know her."

I have so many stories to tell to the world yet I have so little time. My whole life may be spent but it won't be enough for me to pour out the tales I have known.
Maybe if someday I die, you can come and sit by my grave and listen to all those untold tales.
Life or death cannot contain my words. I was born to spill words into this world and I will always do that. Always.

They tell me,
"You are so young to write about this much pain, child."
They don't know
about all the different personalities that I hide inside.

We are made of stars; you and me.
Stars that shined too bright
to exist together
or be near to each other.

We are made of stars
with different destinies
but once we were together
and that's what I like to believe.

Even on the last day
when the world will fall apart
and this whole universe won't sustain.
I have a  hope
though for a fraction of time
that I will meet you again.

it's over four and he calls me on my phone.
i wake up from sleep asking him if he is alright
he says no word and just deeply sighs.
his breathing is rough, he pretends to be tough
i feel helpless, i want to help him, i want to love
but there is just a grim silence
i ask him "what's up?"
"nothing" he says "sorry to disturb"
"hey it's okay, we can talk if you want"
i sense his voice shaking, he is scared and lonely
i figure that he needs someone
"she left me" he cries "she left me after everything"
it breaks my heart and ignites a fire
i want to tell him that i can love him better
i want to tell him that i won't leave him ever
but i find no words, his voice shuts me up
"i loved her you know, i loved her so much"
he tells me how she made him smile and how she was always on his mind
how he wanted to have a life with her and how it's all ashes and dust.
he is all broken but it breaks me more
i wish i could tell him 'hey i can be yours'

finally he runs out of tears and regrets and his fears
he wants to sleep, i tell him he should
he hangs up the phone leaving me with his thoughts.

I remember it was 3.00 A.M.
You called me, you were crying.
I told you that I loved you
That everything will be alright.



It's 3.00 A.M. right now,
I called you but you didn't pick.
Instead sent a text that said,
*"Please don't contact me again."

The wolves howled. The full moon appeared from between the clouds. The shadows approached me as they chanted in an unfamiliar language. I could feel fear creeping up in my bones. I was never scared of the dark. I was scared of losing myself. My heart stopped beating as the smokeless fire stood a few feet away. I was petrified. He was satisfied. I let out a cry. He passed a cunning smile. There was no where to run. I knelt down and prayed to the Only One. *Oh Lord! Please take my soul before it enters the dark.

The Earth flirts with the moon
As it steals away all the glory at night.
While Jupiter keeps searching
between the moons for a star to shine.

A baby and a dead are both covered in a white sheet.
The struggle is to keep it spotless somewhere in between.

He was a piece of abstract art
And she was in love with complicated colors.

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."

Oh Madam Honk,

That black ribbon of yours is tied the same way
I wonder if you see it now, what would you say.

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

Kissing you was like
getting lost in a candy store.
Too much sweetness
Yet I always wanted more.

All those colorful feelings
little moments of happiness.
I kept on kissing
But I never confessed.





I miss those sweet treats
And the magic they created.
The candy store is gone now
And I only know what I had tasted.

The voices* called my name in the dark
I knew I had no choice left.
My whole body shivered and rose up in the air
I was several inches above my bed.

The shadow approached me and touched my lips.
I could feel every muscle tightening.
My heartbeat stopped and veins dried out
As it whispered, "Let the ceremony begin."

"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.

Little soldiers and heroes of this country
who proved to be braver than the rest.
They have set an example for the world to see.
They were the children dressed in green.

They fought the guns with their pens
and wrote their names on the land with their blood.
Those eyes are now closed that held a million dreams.
They were the children dressed in green.

Even the seven skies are scarred that witnessed
the innocent souls flying to the heaven.
They were smiling for they were finally free.
They were the children dressed in green

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

Tonight I am calling out all the creative souls who have seen this world from a different eye.

Tonight I invite you to celebrate your gifts as we'll all get drunk around the fire.

Tonight I want you to let yourselves dance freely, leaving your worldly bodies behind.

Tonight I assure you that this world will witness a cluster of stars shining in the sky.

It was not a pleasant day, I’ll agree to that
When another nightmare woke me up from sleep.
I looked around to see where I was
I was not sure if it was real or another dream.

I picked up my phone and walked outside.
And what I saw, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
I saw everyone lying; injured or dead .
God! It was a horrible sight to witness.

A thick red air was what I was breathing.
I looked around to find traces of reality.
“It’s another nightmare.” I kept telling myself.
As I tried to find a way to wake up again.

An old woman stared me as if I was the culprit.
I felt so guilty that I wanted to escape.
But there was no way so I climbed up to the roof.
I thought, “That’s how I’ll know the truth.”

I woke up again but in a hospital this time
With a pain so intense, I thought I was dying.
“What is wrong with her?” someone asked the doctor.
“Poor little girl, she has lost her mind.”

The demons got me in that alley at last.
I could feel the weight on my body as they entered.
That pain they caused made me want to scream.
My whole body twisted, stiffened and surrendered.

I struggled with my own self to stop the transformation
But my eyes had turned hollow, pitch black.
The sunlight vanished and darkness took over everything.
Then emerged a shadow from fire and ash.

It was Satan himself, the smokeless fire.
He walked up to my feeble body and smiled.
"Don't worry my lady," he consoled warmly
"Tonight you'll be served as my human sacrifice."

When I was a kid, I use to slide on the curve of the moon
and play hide and seek with the stars.
The moon got replaced by the empty bottles of wine
while the stars became the strangers in the back seat of my car.

I
hope is dying
faster than the candle light
save it, somebody save it
for its death will be mourned
the whole night.

II
love is drowning
in the ocean; deep inside
rescue it, somebody rescue it
for its disappearance will cause
a great tsunami tide.

III
life is escaping
from my window tonight
let it go at last
for its freedom is worth
every noble sacrifice.

We were lying on the hood of
your old Chevy
under the stars with cigarettes
between our lips
as we watched our dreams somewhere in
between the smoke that
danced in the air.
The street lights started to look blurry
as I inhaled in
the figments of your dreams
as well as mine.
Your dreams tasted different;
a bit too unsweetened
that burned the inside of my lungs
lighting a fire.
They unwound my muscles
that were in a chaos since centuries
making all the stars align.
I sighed deeply asking for
another cigarette
as I whispered,
"One last time..."

The hunter and the prey
danced under the moonlight
so elegantly that they put
the petals of rose to shame.

The dance ended with the last note
And then came the howls
which continued the whole night.

Standing on the edge of the highest peak
With my arms stretched out wide
Showing off the beauty of my majestic wings
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

My lips curved into a sly smile
As if laughing at the stupid world
Proud I felt as I raised myself up
Ready for the flight and I jumped.

No pull of gravity or force of friction
Could alter my way back to despair
"See I can fly.", I whispered to the world below
As I dissolved into the particles of the air.

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.