She breathes in smoke
It deflates her spirit;
She then exhales a flame
While her eyes are red

The world is a strident grave
And life is a pungent breath
While anonymity is her steed
On the highway to a promise

God forbid, it vanishes!
Her soul, the little grace
A mourning dove reveals
As traumas darkest secret.

Heaven, in silent grief
Adorns a rosy crib:
Her feet at its river
And her head by its sea!

For the weak, for the ******
Who hears their sacred plea
When their souls are in flames?

Who testifies to the carnage
The dusk of tyranny wrought
Upon a stand of hollow men?

Who bears such celestial wings
To lift humanity unto a peak
And defy the gravity of froth?

Who, thus, shall pen in song
A tune of woe – its chapter raw
To rouse, the foretold Saviour!

We gave them day
They gave us night;
It was not forthright
They bore a disguise

Where is delight?
It fled, with them in sight!
Where is mirth?
It wilted with plight!

There is plague:
A demon’s hour,
A century’s fever,
Unkind to all men

The wells run dry
The olives take flight
And heritage – lies
Everything – dies

What is this Hour?
We’ve been disowned:
Citizens of paradise –
Al-Aqsa is our Home!

Our refuge with God,
Our shade under wings;
A symphony of hope –
Trembling in our souls:

‘From the river to the sea
From the river to the sea
Palestine will be free –
From the river to the sea!’

Genuinely, I voice
Ever to the listener
News for the soul;
Only by a cypher
Cutting through
Infantry of waves
Declaring to all:
End the madness!

The Pharisees casting stones
In ostentatious long white robes
From where they don’t preach – that
Mighty ain’t made from sword.
Drab be the low – dusted!
A modern day they call it:
So they drop shells and bombs
(MODERN DAY WAR FARE!)
We wait for the Armageddon
Bound in our own backyards
For it will not be too long
From wonted neighbor to vile foe
A wild cry: Long live to none!
Or so it shall be, for all mortals.

The warm sun from afar gently wakes me
I yawn and then briskly greet my folks;
My neighbor smiles back after waving, ‘Hi!’
All the dwellers mix and race to the fields
Like they all are siblings from Adam and Eve
Letting out their qualms with the wind:
These are the times – we are as free as birds

Soon, all we dream about is flying
We sprout wings and span across the skies
This life is a jar full of fairy tales
For everyone can stop to smell the roses
And witness the beauty in the starry skies
Lazing in their haven, coz it is not haunted
While their days are industrious like bees
And their tomorrows, don’t fret them at all
They are only grateful that they have a Lord

This is the era of naivety, when
No one cares for hidden treasures
Or the enslavement of men for a sordid cause
Ours, is the cradle of huddled peace
For we do not hold resentment, but forgive
We also do not haggle, for we all are forthright
And triumphant over our Machiavellian selves
This way – we are happy beings for eternity
Till one of us, heeds the serpent’s whisper.