Colourful and soft
Hearts, stars and polka dot
Pull me on when it turns cold
Entangle me, don’t fold

Woollen, netted or cotton
Worn at the bottom
Warm, cosy and neat
That’s how I keep your feet

I am always in two’s
You can wear me with shoes
Wear me wherever you like to
But take me off when you enter the loo

Please don’t get me wet
Even I stink when I sweat
Don’t misplace my twin
It will break my heart and that’s a sin

I won't  let your feet turn cold
I will be there when you are old
I am comfort, I am the best
Used in north, south, east and west.

I am stretchy, I am a sock
I ease your feet for a run or walk
If I take the back seat
Numb, tanned and torn feet.

So pay my parents well
Don’t let your feet swell
I promise to serve you
I know you need me too.

-Zainab Attari

I ceased one desire but that gave birth to another.

-Zainab Attari

A little aloof I shall stay
Before another tempest hits the bay
Anchoring me down again
Into surplus societal pain

Sharing the ocean can get rough
Absconding high tides is tough
I need to gather myself in vain
Before I crash once again

So I shall breathe, smile and have a good time
And hold on to things that are mine
Whilst I cover up the timeworn stain
And soak my wrath in the rain!

-Zainab Attari

Look into my eyes and you shall see
The innocence and solitude in me
I am all alone in this massive ball
No one to pick me when I fall

Touch my body and feel
The absence of countless meals
I have dug into several bins
To find a morsel from trashed tins

I have slept on cold hard grounds
A better place, still not found
I was soaked by the pouring rains
And disturbed by noisy trains

I have played with broken dolls
Drawn with charcoal on overfilled walls
I have prayed to all the gods I know
Their love makes my soul glow

I am a child too
Don’t deprive me of you
Cuddle me in your arms
A little crave for love means no harm

I know I am an orphan
And might not even get buried in a coffin
But don’t shoo me away so recklessly
Where is your humanity?

Don’t throw that money and walk away
Please hear me out or for a while just stay
If you know of an orphanage, take me there
I no longer want to live in despair.

-Zainab Attari

Flooded and doomed alone I stand
Helplessly watching my people fall out of my hand
I wish I could quaff down this copious water
And save them all from this clutter

It takes me back to the bloodshed
When innocent Kashmiris time and again bled
For a war that thrived for my land and soil
Helplessly watching it made my heart coil

I wish to break into a million pieces
When I watch these sorrowful bruised faces
But I am the king of the north
I need to stand tall and face the wrath.

But oh Allah, tell me why do my people suffer?
Can you give me the power to buffer?
I, Jammu & Kashmir plead you to glorify us all
We cannot take another fall

I dream of a day full of joy
Where guns are never replicated even as a toy
I dream of freedom from all bad omen
Please bless each animal, child, man and women.

The people of Pakistan and India are welcome on my land
Only with friendly non-armed hands.
You have no rights to claim me
I am the creator’s property, you shouldn't break me.

A little waiting
Some vigorous pushing
A quick look around
On a shaky ground

Grabbed the nearby seat
Some rest to the feet
In minutes squeezed inside
By a woman on the same ride

Awkward journey
The CON for cheap money.
Ticket punched
Some snacks quietly munched

Feel tall from the rest
I am in a red BEST
The driver is in a hurry
I smell some fish curry

Over a bridge
Some dogs cringe
Music for my ears
No more travelling fears

Nothing gone wrong
Now I feel strong
My stop is next
Replying to a text

Trip a little but its okay
I think it’s a good day
The red bus brakes
My balance shakes

I fly right on the drivers grill
With my face drilled
All eyes on me
I can barely see

I shiver as I walk the stairs
No one even cares
People just want to get to their destination
And I stand numb at the bus station.

-Zainab Attari

The blaze of the sun cut through their flesh
Sun kissed sweaty skin and dehydrated lungs

Knelled and cried for mercy
The heavens answered their prayers

Loud thuds were heard like a roaring lion
Lightning struck like a shooting star

Their quench was put off
Soil's aroma spread; it rained.

I can see him blush
I think he’s got a crush
I know he’s staring at me
From the corner of my eye

I can see heads turning
I know their whispering
I watch them giggling
From the corner of my eye

Her hopes are dead
I know she cried in bed
I watch her turn red
From the corner of my eye

I pretend I don’t know
These seeds I won’t sow
I will just let it go
From the corner of my eye.

-Zainab Attari

What if* they always truly loved me?
I should have doubted them less.

               What if I am wronged on false claims?
                 I should have the courage to speak for myself.

                                  What if God doesn't forgive easily?
                                    I should have avoided sinful acts.

                                                        What if I don't live until tomorrow?
                                                          I should have no regrets.

                                                                                                     -Zainab Attari

I jump, I fall
I slip, I crawl

I laugh I cry
I fail but try

I dance without care
Pretty clothes I wear

I walk alone
So happy on my own

Then I catch your sight
You hold me tight

You kiss, I faint
My dreams you paint

With promises anew
Together we grew

So in love till now
We take our vows

I breathe with ease
I sleep in peace

Only in my dreams
Reality doesn't scream!

-Zainab Attari

There is an entire world
Of mine
Waiting for another world
To combine

There is a huge list
Of to do things
But they can only fly
When I find the matching wings

There are empty diaries
To be filled
About that someone
Who would have my loneliness killed

There are journeys to be made
With romance in the air
A heart on my sleeve
Kissing away with no care

There are gifts and letters
Waiting to be found and wrote
There is a whole feeling of love
Urging to be expressed in my poems or quotes

Words are eager to be spoken
Mean and lovely ones
Those sarcastic comments
And intended puns.

There are plans
Expecting a change
There is a future
Waiting to exist in exchange

There is hope and belief
About my destiny
There is a prayer
For solving the mystery

I’m waiting patiently
And I don’t cease to live
Just need to find that one person…
In return, I have a lot to give.

-Zainab Attari

A foetus home, like a cocoon,
For nine months is in a womb.
And soon it travels in the outer world,
A cranky and tender little baby girl!

‘The child gave birth to a mother!’
Uttered a nurse besides the doctor!
Hearing her baby’s cry,
The mother falls at ease and sighs!

She cuddles her child gently,
And the child falls asleep gradually.
Being overwhelmed she begins to weep,
As she watches her little angel sleep!

She is astound by natures grace,
How her flesh and blood she can embrace!
She praises the Lord for this miraculous day!
She thanks the almighty in each way.

-Zainab Attari

Innocence so fragile
Won’t last for a long while
Engulf yourself in this joyous ride
That will soon be washed away by the tide

Years later, when you are time worn
Let that innocence be reborn
Rewind back to those joyous rides
Before you’re hit by the last tides.

-Zainab Attari

I have dreams, just like you
I want to make mine come true

But every time I try to reach for it,
You pull me down into the pit

You shove me with errands, which are yours
I am ******* again without a cure

I shed tears and stare up into the sky,
And wave my dreams goodbye.

-Zainab Attari

It’s traumatic not knowing what to type
It’s that edgy feeling till your thoughts ripe

Its difficult to sleep in peace
I place a variety of words on a leash

I sit with a cup of coffee
With my laptop glaring at me

My mind is weakened
My soul is vacant

My cursor is blinking impatiently
And I am deleting each line repeatedly

My hearts not burning with sorrow
My heart is happy but hollow

I don’t feel anything extreme
I don’t feel generous or mean

My mind is at peace
My thoughts are at ease

And until an artist can’t feel
Their thoughts are concealed

So I need to dig in deep
And let this moderate feeling seep.

-Zainab Attari

Centuries far ago
In the African state of Congo
Trespassed by the heartless whites
Civilizing the blacks, against their rights

They invaded them under a false pretence
They shattered humanism’s true essence
Several men decayed, as malnourished
For being skinned in charcoal colour they were punished

The invaders sowed the seeds to racism
It grew larger using euphemism
It all spread like a malicious talk
Darkness bowed when the white flesh would walk

Subjugated with iron chains the slaves marched
With empty stomachs and throats parched
Killed unmercifully if they refused a task
After all, the devil resided behind the white mask
They looted several nations
Leaving behind schools and railway stations
But who would benefit from development of this kind?
In the darkness, hearts had turned blind

Oh, one day back then it all changed
Hearts pumped louder through the ribs that were caged
Unleashing those iron chains they chased;
Till those heartless masters felt disgraced

The dark cloak of slavery burnt to dust
While freedom of sunshine sparkled on all the rust
Each enslaved human fought for what is right
No one could dare to break their might

Blood was shed on both sides
But they didn’t cease their stride
Back then they made them flee
But those racist seeds flew across seas

The darkness never prevails
From one land to another it sails
Only the goodness in one’s soul,
Can take the darkness for a toll!


-Zainab Attari

A girl has a quirky image in the society,
If this image is broken she is labelled, you see.
This image was set since the rooting of womanhood.
A girl had to excel in all aspects as much as she could.

She had to be covered to stay away from evil eyes.
She had to obey her elders and say no lies.
She had to know how to cook and stitch,
And at an immature age she was forced to tie a hitch.

She could not express her emotions out loud,
She had to silently cry it all out.
She was never given respect,
She was killed as an infant in many backward sects.

She tolerated it all these years,
But till now there is no end to her bleeding tears.
She is labelled regardless of her deeds,
Criticism is all what the society feeds.

If she’s walking down the street,
Men out there will stare and mistreat.
If she doesn’t sacrifice and compromise she won’t get anywhere.
She can never wonder fearlessly here and there.

She has been set within boundaries always,
If she tries to erase them she’s taunted in every way.
If the child is deformed, why is it only her fault?
If her husband dies, why does her life come to a halt?

Why do women suffer the most in every nook and corner?
Why is she not treated with honor?
Have men forgotten that women gave them birth?
Why are women always a target? Hello, she too gets hurt!

Yes, women are emotionally strong,
But that so doesn’t mean she’ll take blame for all the wrongs!
She is a human like us all,
Can’t you catch her when she trips and falls?

She has equal rights by the constitution,
But still she’s struggling for a better position.
When will women in the world stop crying?
When will she start to live each day rather than dying?

Will women ever get some relief from all the pain?
Will she ever be free from all the everlasting vain?
Yes, many have accomplished and done a lot!
But there are still a million who just cannot.

I plead to the one’s who read this today.
Don’t label women no matter what they do or say!
Respect their views and choices.
Let them be heard when they raise their voices.

The smallest coffins are the heaviest!
The smallest coffins are the heaviest!
No one wears stained clothes
No person likes stained walls
We make sure that they are cleaned
We make sure it is all stainless

But on a colourless Tuesday
Terrorists spilled red all over a school
They ransacked the classrooms
They set a teacher on fire

They shot aimlessly at tiny hearts and hands
They murdered their future
They banged bullets through budding brains
And all that was left were stains.

Terrorists stained crisply ironed uniforms
They spilled blood in corridors once filled with colourful paintings
They blemished the thoughts of little souls
They damaged the hearts of parents young and old.

Terrorists persist in staining their hands
They exult in staining their nation
They stain the meaning of Islam
They stain the words of Allah in the holy Quran

The redness of young blood will haunt them
These red pigments will soak them into hell
These blotches won’t be disregarded
These stains will sustain till eternity!

-Zainab Attari

I visit my big blue bubble
When I need to shut down the world
I cuddle it so tight
It could choke or die by the end of the night

It tries to shake me out
So I pinch the big blue bubble
It bursts into a piercing laughter
Mocking my loneliness

It sets me free against my will
And I get tossed back to reality
It whispers through the winds
Guiding me to find happiness

So I break down the walls
And wear some optimism and venture beyond
Looking for somebody that cares enough
To cuddle me all their life

There are days I see my big blue bubble
That I happily burst it into a puddle

-Zainab Attari