With tears of blood and bodies cold
PHOTO: AFP
With tears of blood and bodies cold,
We watched you watch the night unfold,
With breaths entangled in a mesh,
Sat beneath your brother’s flesh.
We saw it under the murderous skies,
We watched you as you watched them die,
We saw your tears, we heard your cries,
Pleading, screaming, asking ‘Why?’,
Paving the way to distorted salvation,
Blind to justice, deaf to persuasion,
Rummaging through from nation to nation,
Is this the fate of God’s fine creation?
We heard you as your mothers’ wept,
As bodies of their children slept,
In boxes hard, in boxes cold,
Listening to the tale unfold.
A story of eighty seven lives,
Dreams of who did not survive,
Murdered under the murderous skies,
We heard their voices in disguise;
“Do not rest till the tale is told,
Do not dig a single hole,
Do not offer our final prayer,
We do not wish to be taken there.
Sit beneath our freezing flesh,
With breaths entangled in a mesh,
Turn your hearts into stone,
We are not forgotten, you are not alone.
Our brothers and sisters will surely come,
To show that we are truly one,
Until the day they do arrive,
Sit beneath our flesh and strive.
For in our blood runs sacrifice,
For that we surely paid the price,
But do not rest till the tale is told,
Do not dig a single hole,
Do not offer our final prayer,
We do not wish to be taken there.”
Read more by Sabreena here, or follow her on Twitter @sabreena_razaq
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of The Express Tribune.
nice keep it upRecommend
Your words echo every Pakistani’s feelings. We are for sure against these brutalities. May Allah bless our country.Recommend
RIP!Recommend
Reminded me of my trip to Quetta…. Excellently written BRAVO!!Recommend
Very nice, WelldoneRecommend
in those bomb blasts more the 120 people were killed but in this poem u people have mentioned the number of 87 only………….. its not Good. those who were not hazaras where they also not human????????????????????????????? think over itRecommend
Brought tears to my eyes. Beautifully written.Recommend
One can only stand by their side in this cause other wise no one can lessen their pain and no one can bring the lost lives back lets show some unity it is the least that we can do….Recommend
its very Sad :( I am just make cry blood tears :(Recommend
@Author : Very moving. This whole episode shows what the quiet determination of a courageous and resolute people can achieve without any threats or violence. Salute the people at Alamdar.
@Salar khan Tareen: “in those bomb blasts more the 120 people were killed but in this poem u people have mentioned the number of 87 only”
The poem refers to those who were not buried as mentioned by
““Do not rest till the tale is told,
Do not dig a single hole,
Do not offer our final prayer,
We do not wish to be taken there”Recommend
@Salar khan Tareen:
Mr Tareen think out of the box,the poem shows the feelings of the families who where in the “sit in” with the bodies of their loved ones, as a human being we should not tolerate killing of any innocent single individual, please dont divide the nation into cast or religions, we should have to have a single voice at this point in time…
By the way nice poem..Recommend
Heart touchingRecommend
Mr. Changezi
I am 1000% agree with you. and i am also not dividing nation. I also have sympathy for Changezai/ Hazaras. that what so ever is happening with them is not good……. We are condemning this too.
My point of view was just to share and inform the people that in those blasts 87 people were not killed in that day the residents of Quetta got more the 120 Death Bodies of their beloved citizens and more then 200 people are injured and few of them are in a very critical condition. Pray for them AlsoRecommend
@Salar khan Tareen:
i think Sabreena mentioned the feelings of depressed community….anyhow poem is really beatiful.Recommend
I am really humbled by your kind comments, and yes the specific imagery is of the dharna which is why I mentioned 87 lives. I am sooo proud of their families’ strength, patience, resilience and faith. In essence however this is dedicated from us to every single Pakistani that has lost their life to terror/conflict. May they rest in peace, ameen.Recommend
Very touching.Recommend
I am not one for poetry but with your simple yet powerful style, you had me riveted.Recommend
My grandfather needs an electric heater all the time as winter season is on its peak. One day there was No Electricity in our home due to some problem in my electricity meter. I decided to call the electrician but couldn’t do so because there was another problem waiting for me and that was the closure of mobile phone services. My grandfather was not in a good condition. We had no landline in our home. I went to my neighbour’s home and called from there. After this incident today I have my own landline connection. Because I don’t want to face this kind of situation again.Recommend
In one word, the expression was
“OUTSTANDING”Recommend