MUHAMMAD SHANAZAR

MUHAMMAD SHANAZAR

THE BUNGED DOORS

At the noon outside my working place,
I heard hue and cry of the crows,
Just amid the grove of the trees,
They cawed as if some colossal calamity fell upon them,
I expecting some snake, or wild cat
Or some beast of prey,
In hurry went out, went very close to them,
I saw two crows grappling,
One held tight with its beak the neck of the other
And its claws were on the belly,
While the victim of tyranny lay supine,
Tossed fluttered on the ground,
Seeing me very close, they uncaught the grips,
And flew up and sat in the shady branches,
Then hush prevailed.
The victim turned up,
Jerked its body and looked at me as if with thankful eyes,
It too flew up and sat in the company of its fellows,
But a little upset as we wake up all of sudden
While we go through some nightmare.

Yesterday in the street,
Two men on some petty affair,
Just a little before the sunset,
When crimson twilight spread in the west,
Grappled, they tore shirts of each other,
They uttered aloud the words of abuse,
They nailed one another too,
One’s teeth and the other one’s nose bled,
At last they uncaught the grips by themselves,
And threatening each other went away.

The street was thickly peopled,
All doors of the houses were bunged,
No one came out on their hue and cry,
I myself had no time for I had to offer the evening prayers.
God made Man the crown of creation
But now has grown worse than the crows.

MUHAMMAD SHANAZAR