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. "

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!