An Ominous Woman Poem by Akhtar Jawad

Sometimes we become foolish in love,
Yes, even a mother in love can commit a blunder,
That may spoil the life of her child,
I know a woman, who made the life of her daughter,
Pitiable and painful, a story of tears,
Her son-in-law expired in an accident,
Few moths after his marriage,
I was praying for their happy conjugal life,
But the stars were angry with me,
Thanks God, I did not pray for the rains,
Otherwise fire would have been started down pouring,
Sometimes I am afraid of praying!

With a lot of dreams in the waiting eyes,
Waiting for the husband to send a visa,
Feeling movements of love,
In the womb capable of keeping the prophets,
Raising her hands for the prayers,
She never knew and I never knew,
Prayers can’t change what is ultimate,
Cruel, merciless, blind is the fate!

At that time she was carrying his child,
Her mother forced her to get the child aborted,
She thought it would be difficult to re-marry her,
With a child in her arms,
She forgot it is east where superstitions,
Are more powerful than religion and ethics,
And a woman of east besides all her greatness,
Cannot get rid of superstitions,
The widow is still unmarried,
Irony! Is anyone crueler than you?

Anyone who came to see,
The charming and educated girl,
When came to know her story,
Took her as an ominous woman,
Ignored her charms and avoided her,
She is a working woman,
Not a burden on her brothers,
With her child in early thirties,
She would have been passing a lovely life!

(I was praying for a newly married couple, my brother-in-law Muhammad Hassan, He expired a few months after his marriage in an accident at Saudi Arabia. When he expired, his wife was carrying his child; her foolish mother forced her to get the child aborted as she thought it will be difficult to remarry her with a child. The irony is this that she is still unmarried. Sufferings of a woman come to her from another woman.
Her mother forgot, we are still living in a society badly affected by superstitions. Many came to see her but when they were informed that her late husband was expired in an accident, within few months after her marriage, they avoided her due to fears that the unhappy incident may recur.
She is now a working woman, and she could have brought up her child to early thirties and would have been passing a lovely life with her grown up child!)