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Saturday 26 December 2015

The Unwanted Choice - Poetry by Neelum Afridi





"The Unwanted Choice"





Walked alone down a dry road
It was colourless, all lifeless, dead
And well-worn.
A butterfly flew near me, it whirled,
Caressed me, showed all its vibrancies
As it capered.
Initially I ignored, shooed it away.
"No place for you."
I said in a harsh way.
It still buzzed around, touched my ears,
Kissed my eyes; then it said,
"I know I'm not your choice."




The words melted my heart.
Instantly I realised,
"I always wanted this rainbow in my life."
I ran after the butterfly, but it flew away.
I tried to chase; worthless!
All it said before it left,
"We can't be together
As I am an unwanted choice."




Now it's gone, I'm all alone.
"Yeah, you were not my choice,
Though I think better now
That I always waited
For this unwanted choice
In my dreary life"
I cried towards the red sky
Yet I watched the sunset forlorn.

Monday 30 November 2015

The Unlit Cigarette - Poetry by Neelum Afridi




"The Unlit Cigarette"





Puffed the cigarette
Held between his lips
In the cold night of the snowy Christmas.
Stood beside the frozen lake,
Beneath the bridge of the black secrets.


He was lost in the murky dusk,
Played by the needles of his compass.
The frosty wind jabbing him hard
On his frailly back,
Reminding him how he was trapped
in the net woven by the wool
Of his own woolen cap.



Removed the cap from his bald head,
Flung it away into the misty firmament.
Puffed the cigarette once again,
The smoke this time reflected some alphabets,
It said,
"Curse those friends who
Can't lit your unbranded cigarette. "








Saturday 21 November 2015

You Never Asked - Poetry by Neelum Afridi



"You Never Asked"




Pitch-dark night,
a moth struggles for light,
a story of struggle at height.
But, you never asked,
about its lonely-life,
which is why It cried.



The very first flight,
It's enthusiastic with no fright,
there it goes, that it
burns its wing at right.
It falls down in plight,
to stand up and fight.



Once again, it rises
with a single wing, still tries.
Oh, this time,
It burns its only wing.
No more it can glide,
On the ground it lies,
thinking all over at night,
the next morning it decides,
"No wings, that's fine,
after all the tiny legs are mine,
they have all the might. "
Once more, it starts its journey,
with its head high.



We can all guess in precise,
the end of this heroic tale,
the moth gave its life,
in search of its heart’s desire.
Though, all this time,
it waited for you to ask,
"How is this lonely-life?"
No, you never did and it died,
with a heart-aching sigh!



Wednesday 23 September 2015

Wait - Poetry by Neelum Afridi



"Wait"




It's like standing,
bare feet,
on a glacier’s,
 peak.



Alike,
 peregrinating
a desert,
sans water.



That is how,
 It feels,
When I wait,
 for thee.



Oh, Spring!
come quick,
let me live;
You're my bliss.



Or, I'll wither,
like an autumn leaf,
dead and displeased,
with no life to live.




Sunday 6 September 2015

An Answer - Poetry by Neelum Afridi




"An Answer"






The air echoes with the sobs
Of half-opened flowers
 Plucked before they blossomed.





What will you answer the Almighty
O lethal plucker,
When the sobs will reach
The Gardens of Eden?





Saturday 29 August 2015

A Mother Cried - English Poetry by Neelum Afridi

"A Mother Cried"






Limpid, lucent, pure, deep, Crystal clear;
Drop fell off those green, hazel eyes.
The eyes of a mother streamed
That river as her youngling's reverie rived.
She descried her youth's red eyes
In those rives.
A mother Cried because her
Moppet cried.





Sunday 23 August 2015

Gratitude - Poetry by Neelum Afridi





"Gratitude"





Gratitude to you,
I know not who! 
Maybe the
arrogant air
with an arrow
so aloof.




Never you knew, 
pages were blued
by quills with clues
of thy moves, 
to compose my tome.




Your mind's eye
is blind to read
that I write.
Nevertheless, I pay
my gratitude,
with a "Who", to you!




Saturday 15 August 2015

Cold Breeze - Poetry by Neelum Afridi



"Cold Breeze"


In the days of loneliness

A cold breeze would blow 

To console my soul.

To accompany me with

 Its cool, stinging blow,

Though cold, yet, warm.




Now, in a throng, 

When all is warm,

I miss that breeze so cold.




Thursday 6 August 2015

Thursday 30 July 2015

Teddy's Farewell - Poetry by Neelum Afridi



"Teddy's Farewell"




There ran a teddy bear, 
stumbled over a stone, 
looked up he, found
a girl laughing. 



The girl was alone
in the jungle. 
Teddy took her hand, 
promised to lead her. 



Teddy was with her
they chuckled and played, 
slowly traveled they,
took every step together. 



Teddy was lazy,
girl was steady, 
an odd combination, 
now were buddies.



In little time they, 
made a home in
their hearts, for each other,
to them, days were ephemeral. 



Sun rose, it faded, 
Moon shun, Stars appeared.
This is how passed the
course of clock, unaware. 



Forgot they that
he was a Teddy, 
the girl was a she. 
With news, once rose the sun's heat.



Teddy told the girl,
“jungle has ended, 
I kept my promise, 
now lead your traces.”



Cried the girl,
protested she.
But, alas! every rise has a fall, 
every meeting, a farewell.


Monday 27 July 2015

As You Separate - Poetry by Neelum Afridi


"As You Separate"




Clouds were heavy, 
Still would curb
Not to burst,
Rambled to lighten
The heft.



Cracked the clouds, 
Couldn’t constrain,
Dripped the rain, 
Heavily it abate.



Clouds acclaimed,
"It's not 
The rain
But
The tears,
As you separate."


Thursday 23 July 2015

Cackle of Dawn - Poetry by Neelum Afridi



" Cackle of Dawn"




Flick flit butterflies,
bright is the sun above,
sprouted new buds below,
rivers danced with a flow.



Birds swinging all along,
streets around all echoed,
with the children who guffawed,
blowing is the breeze of love.





Bees clapping their palms,
With the sunflowers that sing,
songs so sweet of peace,
scents of the earth accompanied.



 Here is no grief,
Departed have all the agonies,
whisking off the dusk,

as cackles aloud the dawn


Friday 12 June 2015

For the Spring of Joy - Poetry by Neelum Afridi




"For the Spring of Joy"


Oh You have
brought the spring
of joy!




You primped
our souls,
we cried.
You groomed
for a bouquet,
we plaint,
 a bloom.
We waited, not
but grumbled.





You smiled,
said,
"Won't you
bide,
for the spring

of joy?"


Friday 5 June 2015

If Life throws Lemons at you, Make Lemonade - Poetry by Neelum Afridi





“If Life Throws Lemons at You, Make  Lemonade”




I was relishing nature while sitting in my lawn, looking at the limpid blue sky enlightened by the golden, sparkling sun. The vista caused a kind of a jump-start for a life I had always dreamt about. Took a deep breath I moved my gaze to the brightly lined lemons hanging above my head in the tree which I had planted long ago. “How lovely the lemons look. My tree, I planted it. See, how large it has grown. Nothing can be better than that. What more can I ask for?” I thought to myself and the mere moment I had the thought, the lemons from the tree one after the other toppled over me. I started yelling which opened my eyes. “Oh…! Great God, I was dreaming.”



This dream led me to think of the cliché, “If life throws lemons at you, make lemonade.” In this very trite phrase I can see nothing but optimism. This is a lucent paradoxical statement which at the same time shows the sweet and sour aspects of one’s life, the way we can change every bitter, bad, galling situation into a sweet, felicitous and gratifying one, only by our attitude towards it.



As a matter of fact, we all know individuals who have lived their lives in a noble and honorable way and those same heroes have had a basket full of lemons too. The difference is that some decide to do more than make lemonade; they use their lives to show each one of us what it truly means to face life's greatest struggles with dignity, compassion, and an overwhelming love for others. They laugh, embrace, move forward, open our hearts and minds, notice the beauty around them, adjust, decide to go the distance, and evaluate their significance in the universe.










To name some as an example, let’s first talk about John Nash, who was a preeminent mathematician, won Nobel Prize for his contributions at mathematics. Was he always a man with a luxurious life so great? No, he never had a life like that for always; on the contrary, he had a kind of a life which threw innumerable lemons at him. When he was afflicted by schizophrenia but he with the help of his partner managed to fight it away and focused on what he was meant to do. He used those bitter, sour lemons to make sweet, yummy lemonade.










To take a turn from the world of science to the world of literature, Bepsi Sidhwa, a well-known female English novelist, who is recognized internationally, was never as well recognized as today. Dating back when she wanted to publish her first novel, none of the publishing companies in Pakistan agreed to publish her work. She has tasted dozens of sour lemons to make the sweet one. Here she is, right in front of us as a successful writer known by the entire world.























Nelson Mandela, a name never unknown but in actual fact it was not always as well-known as of today. An African leader, who came forward to lead his nation when there was no one to lead Africans and stood for his nation as strong as an iron wall. He spent 27 years of his life in prison just for the sake of his people.


















Moreover, Tallat Hussain, an immensely talented Pakistani actor, once sold tickets outside a cinema to earn his living. Now is one of the legendary drama actor of the subcontinent, not only this, he is studied as a subject in the university of Scotland in recognition of his matchless work in the field of arts.


The accounts that I cited of these celebrated people above is to descry how efficiently they squeezed the lemons of their lives to make lemonades, never to ponder about the idea of the great people never suffered, they did; perhaps amply than us yet they  are deft enough to manage a smile in any scene of the story. Likewise, dare nay to chew over the interrogative of “why me?” As, you may have galore of the possessions for what others endeavor to achieve.
In the bargain, when life is topping you with its many lemons, you better think of the many ways of chopping the lemons to make lemonade. Let’s challenge the situation in which life has challenged us by learning what we haven’t learned before with the experience of making lemonade tastier and delectable than others. Although, it's just life reminding us that it's possible to make lemonade from the sour times in order to prevent us from dehydrating by the more mediocre and less rocky times. Life is primping our souls to be able to enjoy the sweet moments after tasting the bitter ones, or else we’d never be able to know the difference.


Besides, we long more than what we deserve and ultimately end up being depressed when we can’t prosecute it, as no one is granted more than he/she deserves. Thus, to endure the excellence and grace we have to catch the lemons. In order to get to the upper echelon we must regard the grimace of life.


To sew up, measure your life not by lemons, but by lifting high a glass of lemonade and toasting bright promises for the future. Dreaming as high as the sky and to remember that there is a world beyond the sky and the star as this visible sky is not the limit. In fact, to chalk up the world that we always dreamt of irrespective of these little, small, rounded lemons that life throws at us because our ardor is not so feeble to be extinguished by a yellow colored ball which tastes bitter only. For instance I inquire you, “what would you do with those lemons that life throws at you?"