The Yellow Eyes

"The Yellow Eyes"

In the yellow eyes was only dirt

I could smell the tobacco within

The dark facade, narrow like a tunnel

Deep like a well caught me

Like a pitcher plant catches an insect.

Enslaved by the words

I refused to open my mind

To thine self which was so white

All I did see was the black face and the dirty skin.

When shackled within, I saw a flame,

It was candlelight!

Oh! You were burning to lighten me!

I cried, I cried but you were dead.

Your soul whispered before it left

"O Man! O Man! See...!

In the dark tunnel, a candle burns

It is black with yellow eyes

Let it burn you too...!"

S - E - X – Y

S - E - X – Y

“You are not S-E-X-Y.”, he said by spelling the alphabets, not pronouncing the word. Every alphabet is echoing in her ears now individually with all the pressure. It’s already 2 am in the morning but these words and thoughts won’t let her sleep. She grew up with this complexity inside her; it grew with her as she was growing. It was a complex she was hiding inside and anyone if ever touched that, would erupt like a volcano and burn her like a dry autumn leaf. She was always told she’s not pretty, now at her senior year she heard it most often, people around reminding her of not being sexy or eye-catching for any guy.

She shut the door of her thoughts commanding her mind she is not a guy questing girl rather a rebel, fighting for dreams. She closed her eyes…..

It was a beautiful day, sunny though the clouds would ramble on and off blocking the sun. They were on their way home after school with their mother. She bought them the new flavor chewing gum of which they were making bubbles. She was 12 years old and her sister two years older. They met their neighbor Mrs. Gold on their way. “Is she your younger daughter? Oh! She’s not pretty at all! Doesn’t she eat anything?” , exclaimed Mrs. Gold.  Her mother turned her half embarrassed and half angry gaze at her daughter. Mother was sick of people telling her that her younger daughter is ugly and she’s too skinny as if dried by the heat of India in June.

She was suddenly up in her bed by the childhood memory. It was 3:15 am now. She picked up her phone; she was sure he’d still be up and phoned him. “Hello! I give a damn about not being SEXY” , she preferred to say the word than the alphabets. “I am not some movie star to be perfect looking, I don’t have the breasts of Nicki Minaj or the ass like Kim Kardashian or could look sandy hot in pictures like Naomi Campbell for I am more of an ordinary lass struggling for myself and working my ass out to realize my dreams. I know you can’t handle a strong head, determined girl like me so stop throwing your shit over me! Do you have greasy smooth muscles of David Beckham or the charm like Daniel Craig or at least, at least the action of Jackie Chan?” She paused for a moment to breathe. “Here, tell me do you have anything productive in your mind other than thinking about girls, girlfriends, how hot or sexy she is or isn’t? Do you have any future plans apart from getting married and eating up what your father has earned? I am way better than you for I am what is beyond sex, sexy or marriage. I have a dream to save the starving creatures of the miserable world and snatch for them the excessive wealth you have which certainly you don’t deserve.”

She banged the phone and went to bed with teary eyes and trembling hands still thinking about not being sexy.   

Roséro

Roséro

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw your face,

I smiled to myself...

Even if I was going through hell.

In those days of rigor

When all was grey and blue,

A soul that lodged within was you

Who solaced me for a day green and new.

Those very days that I spent

In the deep, dark well were long but few.

In the course, I realised,

If I spend the rest of my life

In a cage trapped, my wings trimmed,

May never respire the air anew;

I could still survive-

Merrily with the memories of you.

Days we spent were countable and less

Though, marked my heart with a scar,

No flood could ever remove.

I cherished every moment we spent,

Your thoughts curved the blue purse

That once used to be red.

Whenever your memories I read,

For this lifeless soul, you were the breath.

Less than a fortnight that we not met

Oh, we traversed a mile step,

"Now two souls within a body were built."

A new "Roséro" burgeoned

From the mystic pollen

With love as its scent.

The Proposal - Poetry by Neelum Afridi

"The Proposal"

It bumped out of nowhere,

Matchless, reckless, pointless;

When a Bee asked an Elephant 

That it was only his cuteness

Which won't let her sleep 

But that the queen shall never agree

Though, they can always flee

To a grassland where happily they can live. 

The Elephant startled when proposed the Bee.

Together they may form a moppet to spring

Who might be named as Beelphanties.

Continued she...

Turned around thinking to say Nei 

"Don't you dare to refuse a lovely offer by me."

That its heart felt a burn,

Realised that it was the stinging poison injected by the bee

"Nevertheless I'm a girl, say 'yes' or get killed." 

Uttered she....

A Murderess - Poetry by Neelum Afridi

"A Murderess"

In a battle I am, 

To kill or to live?

Only, that I'm confused, 

"Would I be a murderess

If I kill my own soul?" 

poetry by Neelum Afridi

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.

An Arrow - Poetry by Neelum Afridi

"An Arrow"

An Arrow

shot from a bow, 

travelling without

any hope.

Asks today

something of

a youthful Soul,

"I know your address, 

may I land on your door? "

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.

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."

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

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?"

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?"

Change - Poetry by Neelum Afridi

"Change"

These thorns,

that you have sown,

I will walk on,

to get the rose.

I will bleed,

hurting my feet,

I will sweep,

just like an eel.

I won't stop,

will clear the thorns,

will grow a rose,

of a new kind.

Because I'm a change,

I challenge this incline,

I reject this trace,

of smiles and laughter.

I choose to bleed,

I choose to change,

because I rebel,

to the customs which prevail.

I'm on this stony rail,

hurting myself,

forcing massive stones aside,

attiring myself.

Making a base,

for a change,

I'm the change,

Yes I am.

If you put me in jail,

or throw me in hell,

hit me with hand,

kill me with jibe.

But I'm the change,

remember I am,

I won't stop,

New foundation will sprout.

Because I'm the change,

I rebel,

I'll walk with pride,

as I know I'm right.

You may whisper,

those loose talks I hear,

I'm not deaf, neither blind,

I hear, I see.

Get hurt, may cry,

pains cut inside,

your eyes when I walk,

hit me like swords.

It bleeds my soul,

Ahh..!This blood will grow,

a rose with a fresh odor,

Oh! That will be the dawn,

As I'll bring on my own!