Hope of Despair

Emily Dickinson wrote,

"Hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul.
And sings the tune
Without the words,
and never stops at all."


With this news calamitous
With thus murder heinous
My country falling to pieces
I tried to search that sound in me
And I saw the bird spreading its wing
With this vicious clapping
It is going to fly away
From the perch of my soul
And that tune
That constantly had played
And kept that chamber
Filled with echoes
I can hear no more
With all this clamor and roar
And may be I want to pray
But my heart is so numb
That when I want to say
From my lips no words come

Mutaal Mooquin:
Dec 27, 2007.
(Inspiration by a quote of Sultan Bahoo and comment by Nikhat Riaz at Chowk.com as a reaction to the news of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination: "Taadhee maar assan na uda bahoo, asein aape udh jadna ho"