Dear Mohammed,
Did you know.
Brits own 8 million dogs and
lavish 10 billion on pets
In Syria this must cause mirth
for its distorted priorities
but in Britain it awakens the soul
to love one’s animals most
It's a companion with few conditions
and reinforces  quaint traditions.
Do you find them funny?

Dear Isaac,
Did you know.
Why the sky is blue
You must have coloured it that way
It isn’t easy explaining but I try
The seven colours of the rainbow is light
Like the ocean it’s made of waves
Blue is the shortest so it’s nearest
Red is the longest so it’s  far behind
Arsenal still beat Chelsea though.
Are you laughing?

Dear Khadija,
Did you know.
You are beautiful and gifted
Bet you were surprised when they said
yes - let the world see your mind
and picture your thoughts
of the dark skinned man and woman
which is the colour of their diversity
When you reduced them to flat shades
Their conflicts became your success
What are you thinking right now?

Dear Mierna, Fatima and Zeinab,
Did you know.
Curling tongs are cool
Confidence is better than looks
Girls are doing better in school
Fifty-six countries had women leaders
Boys prefer curly to straight hair
but Beauty is mostly within
Make up is for the beholder
Smiling eyes are a winner
as a sure sign your heart is open.
Who said smile and the world smiles with you?

Dear Yahya, Firdaws and Yaqub,
Did you know.
Football was born in China
The first club was Sheffield FC
Messi is only five six
The number one rapper is Jay-Z
Your eyes and heart Firdaws
left its mark with its brushes
Inside is a free spirit
that roams across your sketches.
Who is your favourite artist?

Dear Baby Leena and sisters three and five,
Did you know.
Halloween was a Celtic belief
to mark the start of winter
School trips in year 6
can make friendships forever
Fingernails grow faster than toenails
Hair grows at half inch per month
just in case you like them painted
or wanted long locks for fun
You will soon take your first steps.
You cannot wait to run?

Dear Maria,
Did you know.
The home of the Bird of Paradise
is in faraway South Africa
The lotus sacred to Buddhists
is a symbol of hope and peace
Roses adorned Cleopatra
created by Chloris and Aphrodite
Hydrangeas are from the Himalayas
when pink the Beating Heart of Asia.
Do you like flowers?

Dear Jessica,
Did you know.
Australia was born in Dreamtime
onto a land that owned Man
Incas once reigned supreme
In the heights of a mountain
Fish and chips married in 1860
in London by the Bells of Bow
Bruno Mars was number one
but now he is second.
Where would you like to go?

Dear Amayah,
Did you know.
Perrault wrote Cinderella
and Beauty sleeping in the Forest
A princess likes to impress
like a jewel she’s so precious
Rapunzel had very long hair
Snow White very fair skin
Little Mermaid had very sad eyes
The Goat Girl a very clever mind
Would you like to read them all?

Dear Jeremiah
Did you know.
Writing is fun because you connect
with other inquisitive minds
Twenty-eight curved and straight letters
compose Arabic words in a line
The Chinese started before everyone
have characters nine thousand
Whether with a pen or a stick in the sand
No longer are the words confined.
What words will you write first, I wonder?

Dear Mr Councillor
You do know, don’t you?
Isaac has lost his pencil case
Jessica cannot find her tickets
Princess Amaya is looking for her dress
Jeremiah wants some paper
Fatima needs to read the Quran
Maria is desperate to water her plants
Mohammed keeps longing for the Sun and
Khadija is preparing for that accolade.

Forever there is a drought.

You, Mr Councillor, were the outline in their lives
and the shadow in our fears

Pinkhat
22nd June 2017

And then Gods turned the page,
the icebergs transformed into oceans;
Tristan oceans into barren land,
the land into fire & smoke
and mankind
metamorphosed into
nothingness !

Leena.

As I sit alone and ponder
over;
a window sill,
a busy street,
a coffee mug,
a ringing phone,
a blowing wind,
a blooming bud,
you almost step in;
like you stepped into my heart;
tiptoed into my life
and then, we both , into each others lives.

At home, the mirrors are,
perhaps, dizzy with your presence.
The television , panting – on running a marathon.

And perhaps; the same flower intoxicates us,
with its fragrance,
on the very evening, when we felt the wind on our faces.

Leena.

MEMORIES WE LOVINGLY TREASURE.....

HAPPY EASTER

Ever dearest Grandma, Leena and Arlene, my most beloved people from the city of Niagara falls

Every single day, through all these years, remember you I, at all daybreaks n as each night falls

Come Easter, and gush those  beautiful warm n tender memories; it's then we  desperately miss you all.

This relationship so deep n loving, is from some life past, or it would not have into our life, ever occur

These incidences rare,  happen do not in one's daily life; they are predestined n do not often reoccur.

Anyone, who so ever has heard our story, would about this, most definitely authenticate, validate and concur.

It's almost a miracle the way we met; it was of course the Lord's plan; and definitely not just a mere coincidence

Our shivering in that bitter cold, Leena's passing by, our requesting a lift; her taking us around the falls, was a miraculous incidence.

Then meeting dearest Grandma;  her instantaneously loving n cuddling us, n above all, in her life, giving us precedence

Endless was the showering of love, gifts, blessings n beautiful compliments, it deeply touched my heart

Of her huge joint-family of seventy-two, turning it to seventy-five, making us now an important part.

Thank you dearest Grandma, Leena n Arlene for the immense love and joy you gave us. We shall always endearingly carry it in our hearts

LOVE NEVER DIES

Happy Easter to all of you in Heaven

Armin Dutia Motashaw

EASTER

Celebrates Easter, all around, the entire Christian world, on this auspicious day.

Kiddos enjoy the Easter baskets, eggs n Bunnies , in every corner curled, happy n gay!!!

For us it is a very very special day, it's memory with us will always, forever stay.

An icy cold day at Niagara Falls it was, in 1984; when we couldn't keep the cold at bay;

I impulsively requested a lift and met Leena and Grandma on this very special day.

Took us she around the falls, almost into Canada n to Grandma see, on the way.

Dropping us at our motel, after a sumptuous Italian meal, at a posh restaurant, she went away;  

Only to surprise us with a big Easter Bunny n basket, n gifts many; as in our room we lay.

At the desk, cancelled she the taxi booked; n back came early morning,  bright n gay

She first home drove us and with gifts umpteen loaded us; Santa on an Easter Monday !!!

At Buffalo airport, dropped us she when; overwhelmed we were and didn't even know, what to say

We thought never would we meet them ; never would we be able to come back, to see them some day !!!

But a relationship strong grew, letters n gifts lovingly exchanged we; visited them we did, one day.

Lovingly, a good morning n night I wish her, every morning n night, even today;

May in Heaven happy they remain; our dearest Grandma, Leena n Arlene I pray.

Armin Dutia Motashaw

Kan Souhldunsa you are no match for five dark Jedi?!
Automatic defenses can keep them off a good while...
Lets find the athletic one, Luke, as I.
Luke Skywalker, I call you back from the darkness.
"Poison is nothing to the force I am between all that exists"
Me, rauuaghw! I Baetdu Soma, last of the Jedi of Sunryder
I call you back!
Yes! Fighter, leader of the Jedi, Oh it's thee we lack!
You...? You...saved me?!
The darksiders, Leena, here soon shall be!
We better move fast, they're getting closer,
... everyone down, they're here!
Too late! For the smuggler ship we did boast to own,
now approaches faster than
Sith fear!
Shot down abated more to the side of light as
before it begins over was the fight....and flight.
There's no time to rest. We have to establish a new rebel base.
The titles of which in the past allows, life -to flow, a face- you've known.
Though we wonder about hope for the divine light for all states of life, we hold together, intrinsic and with sight, our ambitions during this strife.

So Kan, Soma, and Skywalker escaped that deathly fate,
each knowing... the plan, did have a origin, yet a vie to conquer.

Malini, your skin is beautiful
Like summer skies beneath clouds,
Do not scrub your skin
You are my kin,
Make your mother proud.

Leena, sing Vande Mataram in a pub in Illinois,
Be bold when men take you for granted,
You are your mother's soul
And someone I always wanted

And say, who your father,
Your mother and your blood,
Say father is a role
Not decided by the gender
Father is a shelter,
Father is home.
Father is a man of your achievements
Father is the man of the house,
Say my mother is my father,

She's a lion, not a mouse.