Asiya And Neelofar Poem by Nida Nawaz

(1)
That day, the river did not flow with water
It cradled two names
Within its waves
Like lamps
The mountains remained draped
In a blanket of silence

There was no dew
Upon the chinar leaves
It was the cold gleam
Of unanswered questions

Time still writes those two names
Not upon stones
But upon the conscience of humanity.
...........................................................
(2)
That day, the voice of the river
Suddenly grew faint
The wind kept calling
Two names again and again
Neelofar, Asiya

The night hid its face
In dark waters
Dawn arrived, but before
The first ray of the sun
It wrapped itself in a long silence

Whenever injustice
Tries to erase the memory of that tragedy
The river builds its banks
Not with waves
But with those names.