I had never thought of this
That Kabul I would really miss
Its dust and sizzling sweats
On my toiling friends’ foreheads
...
In tears and a serum in his hands
Rushed a young man through a traffic jam
begging to buy a helpless old man some health
...
Nine Eleven today
For the tenth time we commemorate
Remembering loved ones
And their unconvincing deaths
...
Loud boom siren alarms ring
A suicide, a homicide;
Scent of flesh and blood,
Blasted on the streets.
...
Tell me darkness of the vast sky
Is that your bad god?
Your wrath millions times its size
Tearing the universe wide
...
His swinging hand touches
Aged white beard
Relentless, crushing cola cans
...
Kabul
I had never thought of this
That Kabul I would really miss
Its dust and sizzling sweats
On my toiling friends’ foreheads
The tossing I get from its roads
And the shivers from its colds
Addicted never I thought I would be
To the tremors that in sleep I feel
Kabul, you are dusty and scarred
Your hills with violence marred
The gunshots every now and then
You Kabul are the lion’s den
Your plateaus, mountains and hills
You Kabul, your beauty kills
Your seasons, of dust, sun and snow
Your poise the nature knows
In the day you support the buzz
Roaring, seething masses fuss
In the night you have learnt to rest
When silence is the windiest
You have had and lost it all
You have seen empires fall
You suffered so much and stand
You are of the proudest lands
In the time that has past
You have sons and daughters lost
Scorching sons and daughters again
You are enduring tremendous pain
Of a new beginning when your aspirations rise
When 2014 you try to leave behind
I will be there in these baseline years
We will be there to wipe your tears
Kabul, of our fathers you know
This unrest that they sowed
Looted, breached and devastated you fell
Our fathers then dragged you to hell
To correct their mistakes
To uplift the trajectory of your fate
We stand up your true daughters and sons
We Kabul your youngest ones
Never again, never Kabul
Will you be at a mercenary’s grin
This Kabul is the solemn of love
You are all and nothing we have