by Tehreem Ali
day.
70
To live young and die hard
Is just a myth in life’s backyard.
So soon the angel came and flew away
When they heard the things we had to say.
In the end of every beginning
Comes a wish and a feeling.
Resting in the shallow grave
Are the ones who pretended to be brave.
The mighty oceans will swallow the darkness
Which fills the heart with an emptiness.
Days of our dreaming are so long gone
With all the stars at the crack of dawn.
No words can explain the hurt
That comes after love falls in the dirt.
Embers of a dying fire light up the night
Before anyone can see signs of our fight.
Red streaks of blood drip from the ceiling.
As the piercing sounds come of their screaming.
Only the fallen learn to stand
Without following the lines on their hand.
71
They say a smile can work wonders,
Making your little troubles and blunders.
But sometimes the smile is so hard to make
When you’re in pain that’s more than you can take.
Even the wise can find a shortcut to bring that smile.
The hate often collects itself in a pile.
Then the flashes of anger and tears
Burn on your face to cover your fears.
So all the words don’t give meaning
To things like a useless little feeling.
72
Sometimes words are hard to come by.
Without pain, love can’t learn to fly.
Dreams and thoughts are forever living,
Filled with colors the mind keeps giving.
No feeling is really empty or useless.
The heart can beat even in great stress.
Only the insane can enjoy life’s crazy ride.
With eyes closed, the world seems pure,
For what you see, you can’t ever be sure.
73
The lessons are learned in a midnight.
All the men are busy in a cruel fight.
The owl sits in the dirty windowsill.
No one sleeps without taking a bunch of pills.
Broken glass litters the floor.
A silent shadow lingers behind the door.
Blood is splattered on your sheets and stairs.
There’s a dead woman here but no one cares.
74
Words can conquer hearts and thoughts.
So many people die in famines and droughts.
To the sky these lonely dreams can fly.
Nothing can grow in a land so dry.
Love is a blind game with no rules.
Doors of its castle are open for all fools.
Power only lives for a while.
Little kind things bring up a smile.
Hard work counts a lot at difficult tasks.
All these worried faces are hidden behind masks.
75
The energy we put into worry
Can be used to mend mistakes made in a hurry.
Tears and screams can’t erase the anger.
No comfort comes from thirst and hunger.
Time doesn’t slow down by running.
Wounds only hurt once they aren’t healing.
The dead silence that often fills the air
Is a sign of trouble coming from somewhere.
Before the final decision is made,
All tension is ready to fade.
76
Every mind is an artist of its own gallery.
Its paintings are prettier than Reality.
Its hallways fill with the music of Thought.
Dreams float in a mist but never get caught.
Imagination fills the darkness with its colors.
All the light in it is what really matters.
Age-old symphonies play in its rooms.
It’s one place where secret freely looms.
No one can see the magic that lingers in its crevasses.
From its box of memories nothing is ever amiss.
The face of forgotten Love forms on its surface.
Visions of Hope often help win us win the race.
One’s true self rests within these paintings,
But it is oblivious to the outside happenings.
77
Where can all your dreams go?
Did they fly to where winds blow?
All the thoughts float on your mind.
Don’t follow your heart for it is blind.
Only the color of hope can fill this gloom.
The flowers of your vision forever bloom.
No one but you can know the life inside your head,
For no one can hear the silent words you said.
78
The world is full of liars and misers.
So much wasted on money and power.
Wherever you go, justice is sold
In the false name of money and gold.
The corrupt and fallen rule over empires,
Sitting on piles of others’ gold and sapphires.
Torture is a door everyone has the key to.
There’s no more sunshine except black and blue.
Every person points out flaws in one another,
Without knowing much crimes about their own brother.
Terror breeds ignorance in innocent minds.
Dreams are caged in a box that crashes and grinds.
Everyone is waiting helplessly to be saved,
Without trying to clear the way they’ve paved.
79
There is a silent hesitance in your eyes,
Making your honesty look like a bunch of lies.
The dreams you worked so hard to follow
Are now a stranger about to leave tomorrow.
On the sky was the moon, your only friend,
But now that you’re alone, you pretend.
Gone are all the people you cared for.
There’s always truth in every legend and lore.
Nothing lasts forever, according to Fate.
And that is what you learned too late.
80
Every thing is created for a reason,
Even the temporary changes of a season.
Mortality rests on every drop of water.
Hidden secrets dance in these globules of matter.
Facts and logic are but a tale of Reality.
The signs of helplessness are visible in Sanity.
All that is born is meant to die.
We are all birds who will never learn to fly.
81
Crash and burn, the hateful words.
Success can take wings and fly like birds.
Cold eyes, too blind to see
Gaze at faces that aren’t what they seem to be.
A little smile is all it takes
To feel the joy that love makes.
Life is a word without a rhyme.
We all live in an illusion called Time.
Dreams often show us the unknown.
Hope is a feather too easily blown.
The question of faith has already been asked.
Emotions and feelings can never be masked.
Fearless hearts always to heaven go.
Every moment we live in a high and a low.
82
The kings and queens have all gone to rest.
Everyone tries so hard to be at their best.
What we lost today may come back tomorrow.
There is no use in living in sorrow.
Time and space are at our service.
In every heart lies an evil, dark abyss.
Black and white, these days float away.
In every life shines a bright ray.
Money and fame is all but a huge game.
We are pages of a book with no name.
Blue skies may fall down and break,
But what remains is the love we give and take.
83
Today was the day
You forgot your way.
The dream I had last night
Showed me the reason we fight.
No word or action can bring the dead.
With seeds of evil is our hatred fed.
A deadly silence floats through these halls.
The whole world sleeps when nature calls.
It is a wonder they understand your meaning,
For they don’t really care for any of your feelings.
84
People can do many things.
But no one can grow real wings.
No matter how fast we run,
The wheels of Time have always won.
There comes a dark with every light.
Sometimes we are wrong and often right.
Money can’t buy some things, like Love.
Our nights are lit by the bright moon above.
Everything exists with an aim and a reason.
Different lives are formed in every season.
The faith that now helps us see
Is what’ll make us live young and free.
85
Glamorous days,
Forgotten ways,
Blind love,
Shattered skies above,
A darkened hallway,
Melting models of clay,
Un-opened letters,
Burned and bloodied feathers,
Embers of a dying fire,
Useless wants and desires,
Vague consciousness,
Empty kindness,
Tethers of your dreams,
My love on slow light beams,
Promises of gold,
Nights of freezing cold,
Unprepared plans,
Murdered clans,
Fake sympathy,
Hollow apathy,
Torture and
