Boxed-Up Memories

These sentences flow poetically.

I pray that this is not a true story. That said- it is beutifully told and what days that must have been with so much charm and love!
PRK

``there is melancholy in the wind`` cant seem to recall where i heard that...

Beautiful. But its heart breaking. I go with prk and hope this isnt true.

Dear Faiza:

There is so much poignany here that I do not feel like dissecting sentences. Or wondering whether this is true...it is palpable, `her` absence is present, `she` IS the box, not merely its contents. With the last two lines you have given the meaning of memories such depth.

Please do stay around and write more often...when we talk about a drought regarding non-political/topical writing, this is what we ought to be looking for.

Farzana

Had a quick read. You have a vivid imagination, and a way with words. True or false this story may be, it wouldn`t be easy to craft melancholia without having experienced life in its many intense flavours - happiness, sadness, and above all loss, that in my opinion lies in the heart of the picture this story paints. Nostalgia, denial, yearning to move on, all are states of emotion derived from that one, most piercing, most defining of all - the feeling of loss.

I`d agree with Farzana. It`s priceless to have writings of this kind, no less heavy than some of the topical stuff that goes around, but refreshingly different, always putting things in perspective.

Oh, you have gotta love the variety of life; hats off to you!

faiza:

should i say welcome back? yes, you should contribute more regularly if you can...

nice easy ride punctuated by inaudible sighs all the way...living is a cruel business and losses are sooner or later overshadowed by newer losses...and then laws of nature take over...the intensity of newer losses overwhelm and fade the earlier ones...life!

lve

t

Very expressive!

``A life to live with a death to mourn``

Since her presence is so vivid as if she were alive, perhaps ``A life to live with a LIFE to mourn`` would have been more appropriate.

Faiza:

Life is such strange business….loss lurking around the corner. I think what I find most disturbing about it is that no matter how many times it happens, it always catches us unprepared, and unaware. If only boxed-up memories stayed in the box.

Hope to read more from you soon.

miriam

Thanks Faiza for this lovely little piece :-)

Brilliant! Yet again Faiza u have demonstarted your extremely articulate and intelectual writing skills. I loved it! very moving and extremely vivid.

``The birds fled from her just like life.``
``I leaned against the door and shoved it open with the weight of my misery.``
``as I stood in the empty room, I realized it had never been more full of her.``
``A life to live with a death to mourn``

Excellent writing...just hope like the rest it isn`t true.

Faiza Hussain,

I can hear her muffled laughter tracing the fading echo of which leads me to an empty corner that ends into a pink wall. A layer of melancholy dust sat there which was swept away by chilling whirls of winds. Alas, if memories could be washed away. My heart felt colder, still. Looking at the inkling of dust my finger had picked up, suddenly a drop of liquid fell on it and dampened the dust. The deep longing, current of compulsion swept me to the window of her room to watch the swing as I heard a little girl`s voice sing:

``Are you sleeping,
Are you sleeping,
Brother Joe, brother Joe,
Morning bells are ringing,
Morning bells are ringing,
Ding dong bell.``

Oh, what agony it is to realize that my life devoid of her physicality is ever filled with her essence. My curly-haired, cream-skinned baby doll! Once again, I hear an obscure shreik of a child`s laughter to turn around and hear, ``I am waiting for you.``

Peace!

Faiza, not as morbid as the last one :) ... aima your comment sounds like one of those reviews authors get on the front cover :)

Hello Rozaiba Sahib

Thanks for reading. I guess when some deeply heartfelt emotions are confined into words, their expression becomes poetic in nature. Take care.

Hello Prk
for some unfortunate souls out there, these words are the only reality that exists. May we never taste such bitterness in our life, and that bitterness is not just the loss of a child, the loss of any loved one will do...

Hello succubus sahiba

hmm ``melancholy in the wind``...those arent my words...but are right on the mark..thanks for reading.

Hello Farzana sahiba

Always an honor to interact with you and as always, thank you for your generosity...I am surprised I get away with flaws and faults in my writings with you around...one of these days, i hope you will [dissect] my writing and I would take that as positive criticism:)

And I am around..I don`t interact often but do read what others have to say.

Take care;)

Hello JawadJee (interesting nick...brought back childhood memories of this old pakistani drama in which there was a famous character referred to as ``jawadjee``)
I have had all flavors of life, life would be too mundane without the regular ups and downs we encounter...However, nothing is more unbearable than to have lost a loved one...time doesn`t serve as the healer of such pain..its eternal in nature and with time, it becomes a part of us and abandoning such a companion seems selfish. I live in the present...breathing-in the past. Thanks for reading.


Hello Temporal sahib
Thanks for the welcome:) My losses haven`t grown that old where they can fade...perhaps I should look forward to newer losses so that atleast the old ones can be locked up;)

Hello Malik Sahib

Hope you are well. I like your suggestion...I am still wondering how I wrote what I wrote...when I was writing, I clearly remember writing ``A life to mourn with a death to live`` and not ``A life to live with a death to mourn.`` But then again, sometimes sentences come to mind and later when I am typing, I end up typing something else...Memory loss;) Take care.

Hello Miriamk sahiba

thanks for reading. You are right...if only we could lock up tragic memories, then life would indeed become a bed of roses. The tragedies we face contribute more to whom we evolve into rather than blessings...

Assalam Aleikum Naqshbandi Sahib

Thanks for reading...haven`t read anything from you in a while...on a vacation from writing?

Aimaaaaaaaaa:)
Sweetie, so you found me here...well thank you for reading and interacting... I am surprised you went through the trouble of signing up just to leave an interact:) Stay around, I think you will like some of what you will see here, not all..its a madhouse;) And try not to divulge more personal info than your name..take care.


Hello Islamabadikurri
Thank you for your compliment and keep hoping;)

Hello Faisal Sahib
Your words have the power to cast spell...your brevity carries much more eloquence than my verbosity...write more often. Take care.

Salam Talha ji
You should know that I am not always highly ``morbid`` :) And plz leave Aima alone...no need to be jealous if someone has complimented me;) Take care and whatever happened to your writing ventures?

Hello Rozaiba Sahib

Thanks for reading. I guess when some deeply heartfelt emotions are confined into words, their expression becomes poetic in nature. Take care.

Hello Prk
for some unfortunate souls out there, these words are the only reality that exists. May we never taste such bitterness in our life, and that bitterness is not just the loss of a child, the loss of any loved one will do...

Hello succubus sahiba

hmm ``melancholy in the wind``...those arent my words...but are right on the mark..thanks for reading.

Hello Farzana sahiba

Always an honor to interact with you and as always, thank you for your generosity...I am surprised I get away with flaws and faults in my writings with you around...one of these days, i hope you will [dissect] my writing and I would take that as positive criticism:)

And I am around..I don`t interact often but do read what others have to say.

Take care;)

Hello JawadJee (interesting nick...brought back childhood memories of this old pakistani drama in which there was a famous character referred to as ``jawadjee``)
I have had all flavors of life, life would be too mundane without the regular ups and downs we encounter...However, nothing is more unbearable than to have lost a loved one...time doesn`t serve as the healer of such pain..its eternal in nature and with time, it becomes a part of us and abandoning such a companion seems selfish. I live in the present...breathing-in the past. Thanks for reading.


Hello Temporal sahib
Thanks for the welcome:) My losses haven`t grown that old where they can fade...perhaps I should look forward to newer losses so that atleast the old ones can be locked up;)

Hello Malik Sahib

Hope you are well. I like your suggestion...I am still wondering how I wrote what I wrote...when I was writing, I clearly remember writing ``A life to mourn with a death to live`` and not ``A life to live with a death to mourn.`` But then again, sometimes sentences come to mind and later when I am typing, I end up typing something else...Memory loss;) Take care.

Hello Miriamk sahiba

thanks for reading. You are right...if only we could lock up tragic memories, then life would indeed become a bed of roses. The tragedies we face contribute more to whom we evolve into rather than blessings...

Assalam Aleikum Naqshbandi Sahib

Thanks for reading...haven`t read anything from you in a while...on a vacation from writing?

Aimaaaaaaaaa:)
Sweetie, so you found me here...well thank you for reading and interacting... I am surprised you went through the trouble of signing up just to leave an interact:) Stay around, I think you will like some of what you will see here, not all..its a madhouse;) And try not to divulge more personal info than your name..take care.


Hello Islamabadikurri
Thank you for your compliment and keep hoping;)

Hello Faisal Sahib
Your words have the power to cast spell...your brevity carries much more eloquence than my verbosity...write more often. Take care.

Salam Talha ji
You should know that I am not always highly ``morbid`` :) And plz leave Aima alone...no need to be jealous if someone has complimented me;) Take care and whatever happened to your writing ventures?

Spot on about the nickname! Having hated being called by it during the school years thanks to the said character`s popularity at the time, kinda thought it was cool to resurrect it now:) Have a mixed bag of memories associated with it.

You know you are right about the significance of ups and downs life sprinkles in your way, but... there are times when you wish you had it simple, even mundane. I guess one feels differently about the ups than he or she feels about the downs! Human nature, haan! Give me an up any day; but a glimpse of a down, and I may not stop short of self-pity! Also (and now I`m going to sound a little morbid), sometimes the sorrow becomes too heavy and the life seems a burden you have little desire or wish to carry on carrying. Those are the times when mundanity may seem a virtue....

(Sorry, if I`ve said too much)

Faiza, this was wayyyyyy too depressing for me. You indeed have a way with words. Now for a change, please write something as funny as depressing this essay was :)

Hello Jawadjee

You haven`t said too much:) Without failures and losses, being the ungrateful species we are, we would never be appreciative and thankful for the success and blessings we are bestowed with in life. I love the ``ups`` in my life but without the ``downs,`` I find myself highly unappreciative of the ``ups.`` As a fan of Hemingway, you must be interested in ``downs`` of life;) Take care.

Hello Huma Mir Sahiba:)
Hope you are well. So I must write to please you:) I shall give it a try, but humor is only my forte in conversations and not in writing. And reading it over last night, I realized that it is indeed a very depressing piece...I guess I succeeded at my intent. Take care and as always, a pleasure to interact with you. Goodluck with gradschool:)

My love my darling
I want to smile
Smile at your abrupt laughter
Making this room resound
Chuckles of you and you
Ever Forever

My love my darling
I am Hunger!
Am Hunger

Hunger for your Touch,
To absorb thy aroma in my body forever.
So I have this cache to recall you baby pink.

Tired,
Am Tired
My love my darling
I am Tired
Reduced for a longing so long,

Sleep with you with an arm
Caressing your muddled hair
Seizing my movements to a point rest
I want to give you a bottomless slumber

You have keys to know
Where I live my days and nights,
Come back to me Little Girl,
When you want to.
Its not you, its me lost

-Faiza it’s a soothing piece read in years which touches heart.

Faiza, I think for me Hemingway has been more educational than anything else for some strange reason. I never found him too gloomy; if anything quite the opposite in some ways! Sort of taught how to be happy, content and grateful for what little you may have, and to never stop counting your blessings despite all the misfortunes. Not sure I mastered the teachings though, unfortunately! Perhaps it says something about me... lol!

Anyway, I do like your writing! Maybe you`ll let us know about your book when you publish it one day! You have a lovely way with words that seems to have culminated here into something people can warm to, and be moved by.

Some university friends and I have been in planning to launch a website (not a competitor to Chowk in anyway, I promise!). I`m sure neurology isn`t a walk in the park, but if you do spare some time & feel like writing, or even editing for us, do drop me an email and I can give more info as to what it`s about. And if you agree with what we`re trying to do, you can give it more thought... I can say that it`ll be a well-rounded site….

Otherwise, all the best with your professional life and hope it keeps allowing you time to write.

Faiza:
``There is no pain that death does not end and no sorrow that time does not erase``- Don Quixote- I wonder whether the latter is really the case?
PRK

Faiza:
I came across these lines in the Poetry Section by drlokraj:
Kuch aisay dard haiN jo ta-umri hi saath rehtay haiN
Wuqt kay pass bhi har Zakhm ka marham nihiN hota!
That must answer my query!
Best Regards.
PRK

Faiza:
I came across these lines in the Poetry Section by drlokraj:
Kuch aisay dard haiN jo ta-umri hi saath rehtay haiN
Wuqt kay pass bhi har Zakhm ka marham nihiN hota!
That must answer my query!
Best Regards.
PRK