Fatigued Faces of Youth

I see the tired and fatigued faces of my youth,
Wander around with no discernible soul,
I hear the empty sounds of my youth,
speaking in gibberish words but no voice,
Herded around like cattle,
I see the bleeding bodies of those alive,
Wander around with no discernible soul,
Unknown faces in the unknown crowd,
Stare back in the visions of unrecognition,
I see the face of my beloved,
But he does not see me,
And I become one with the souless faces,
Wandering around...

The Voice of the Monsoons

Oh Shimmering and Glistening night,
Sing to me in the voice of the monsoons,
From a childhood forgotten,
Drown me gently in your song,
Whisk up the aroma of moist earth,
From the backyards of memory,
Shine down the scattered souls of stars,
Dead, alive and those dying still,
Soak this anonymous wanderer,
In your majestic and tranquil glory,
Oh Shimmering and Glistening night,
Cradle me in your arms...
Sing to me in the voice of the monsoons...

Solitude

Is is existent and real,
Is it fleshed out,
With bones and muscles and tendons,
Or is it a tease,
Have the voices heard in stormy nights,
Given birth to my lost friend...

Has he returned once again,
To hold me in this moment,
Does he hold in his stomach,
empty words of comfort,
Has he returned once again,
My forsaken existence of silence.

Is it in the chimes at the doorsteps,
Is it in the gentle rustles in the night,
Is it in piercing songs of the blackbird,
Is it in the gongs of the midnight hour.

Is it the arrival of my long lost friend,
Fleshed out with bones and muscles and tendons...

Broken

Searching winds blow heavy,
This land withered and broken.
Wandering gazes find,
Empty eyes and emptier hearts.
The desert heat scorches,
Sears and burns the skin,
Of the nomads and the drifters.
The bright yellow sky laughs,
And sprinkles drops of fire below,
The living corpses burn,
And the stench lingers still,
As the searching winds blow heavy,
Never stopping, never waiting,
At this land withered and broken...

Feroze

The saline taste lingers on
her lips mometarily like a promise,
Uttered in the warmth of
a passionate embrace.
The saline taste lingers on
her lips momentarily as
she becomes someone else.
the nights, and the stars,
The rain and the cars,
The smiles and the tears,
The hopes and the fears,
the laughter and the silence,
The peace and the violence,
Remanents of her past,
Speak gently to her in silence,
The suble shape of a smile,
forms on the corner of her lips.
Is a forgotten kiss truly forgotten,
Is it a corpse dead and buried,
Or is it akin to a memory,
forever floating on the sea,
As the waves of lust,
drowns Feroze that night,
The stillborn memory of a kiss,
Is brought back again to life.

The Weaver

Step out to the outer edges of comfort,
Scream loud till the back of your throat burns,
Run till the throbbing of your heart becomes,
A thumping that is continuous like a horse's gait.

Cast out (loudly) the fears and tears,
That plague your rotten heart,
Cast out the ghosts and the demons,
That whisper gently in the dark...
Awaken the corpses of broken dreams,
Chisel away at the stone that is your soul,

Blame not the annals of a prewritten fate,
The ink was forever in your hands.

Fate is merely  a few threads of cotton,
thrown into a blind weavers hands,
Weave O blind one Weave,
Weave with the colors of the rainbow,
Drench it in the tears of the stars...

The Immortalization Of A Cause

There is a trait in our society that tends to immortalize individuals rather than a cause. The man who stood up to the tank in Tiananmen Square was remembered more than the communist rule itself. Mother Teresa became the person known for philanthropy and service, rather than the missions that she founded. Here’s a different thought: greatness is not measured by individual success, it is measured by the impact that the person has on society and its behavior.

Over the past few weeks, there has been an attempt by many organizations and people to use the heroics of a young girl in Pakistan for their individual causes. Some would like to adorn her with peace prizes, and others would like to walk around claiming the title of “I am …” Although our intentions might be genuine, we should avoid making the sacrifices of a girl into a vicarious realization of our fleeting attention. Modern social network activism is very short term. People have short attention spans and whatever captures our interest for a passing moment, arrests us. The moment a more interesting story comes along, we drop our cause or the person and move on to the other. The more successful causes are those that move beyond the admiration of an individual and more towards spearheading a cause.

Education is the fundamental promise that every child, was given by the citizens of the world. Education is the fire that crafts people into pioneers, thinkers, visionaries and is the single most successful tool towards bringing people out of poverty. The investment needed for a sound education is not small, but it is also, not that difficult. Governments around the world have the necessary funds to create an infrastructure that can push education even into its most rural areas: whether or not these funds are allocated towards education or prioritized is the challenging question.

The tragedy that happened to the 15 year old girl in Pakistan was not as a result of culture or corruption or cruelty (even though a small element of it exists); It was due to lack of education. Without a good primary or secondary education, large swaths of gentry are easily swayed by the anti-social, extremist elements in every society. In developing nations, these elements are even more powerful. Organizations such as the Human Development Foundation exist to implement a nationwide call for action. Their Education Advocacy Campaign initiates reforms in society by informing people of their rights, and helping them achieve their rights. HDF launches reformative action at the grassroots level. A petition has even been started to implement universal primary & secondary education in Pakistan: www.Causes.com/PakistanEducation

Education is supposedly a compulsory right of every child aged 5 to 16: when this right is denied, we have to recognize this as a global human rights’ issue. If we have to get to the “root cause” of the problem, then we should target the growth of education. We should hold Governments accountable and influence them towards enforcing education and take strict action against those who deny their children the opportunity to be part of the global population. This is a precarious time and real change can only happen if we support this cause, rather than getting caught up in the sensationalism of violence. After all, isn’t that what the Malala fought for, the right for education for all?