Years have passed now,
Those innocent giggles still linger
At every corner
Of the "dead" house...
The books, piled at the corner
Taste the dust of time,
That toy car makes no more sound,
Or bump into Ammi's feet,
Ammi; she hardly talks now...
Her eyes remain wet,
She stares at the door
As if you, bhaijaan will soon walk back
From the school,
Sharing your stories of pen-fights with Abdul,
And how you stole the tiffin of Muhammad,
In the middle of the class...
Your photo hangs right there, smiling..
Abbu sometimes brings sweets,
Your favourite ones,
And keeps them below your photo frame,
But we never eat them..
I remember fighting with you for the last piece,
Now all the pieces are mine,
Yet I don't feel like eating them...
I sit in our room, and secretly cry,
Wishing I were with you that day,
That gloomy day,
When innocence died,
And colours of childhood turned into colours of death,
You must have been in the class,
Probably engaged in cracking jokes,
Like you always used to..
Enraging your teachers,
How you must have missed us, Bhaijaan
Listening to those bullet fires
I cannot imagine the fear and despair,
You went through,
Your racing heart beat trying hard
To calm down,
Under the bench...
I am sure you fought bravely,
Ammi always called you the bravest amongst us,
I am sure you didn't give up
Till you could...
The demons were bigger in size,
How long could you have held on!
You couldn't even call out to Abbu,
Our protector from the demons,
Because you were scared...
But you were a Hero
And will always be.
Abdul, your best friend, is doing fine now
He misses you more than us,
You had saved him from the showers of those hatreds,
We go to your burial every Sunday,
I hope you get your favourite chocolates
That Abdul and I give you...
And eat them with relish at Allah's home.
I know He is taking care of you
More than we ever could,
I can see it from here
High above the sky,
You glow the brightest...
Assuring me you are happy at your abode...
That keeps us going every day...
Every moment.
We love you, Bhaijaan,
We always will.
YOU ARE READING
SMALLEST COFFINS
PoetryDedicated to the young, innocent lives that were lost during the Peshawar school attack in 2014. My condolences to the families! There is nothing more painful than losing a child, but what might keep us going on is believing that they are in a much...
