On Behalf of Asifa

By Seher Hashmi

On behalf of Asifa, Zainab, for that matter, any child being robbed of innocence and denied life.

 

When I lay ravished 

Under frigid skies

Overcast with knobbly vultures

Wielding mikes and cameras 

Swooping-ready scavengers

Maa, don’t let them rip 

The lasts of my tattered shirt.

When my coffined bed is brought 

Your arms wrap and rub 

snuggle and wriggle 

Around its frosty legs 

Sending warmth of love 

All in vain!

Maa, don’t give away my baby-talk tales

Every morning show and podcast

To become the hot topic on sale.

When I am no longer in sight 

Yet visit you day in, day out 

Flickering in your eyes like 

Maimed image on glitched device

Wringing your shrunken heart 

Fast and tight, 

Don’t let them undo the back 

Of my mangled mind, Maa!

When no one but you cherish my 

Ragdoll, school badge with broken rims

khaki satchel stuffed with unread 

Cinderella and Rapunzel 

A blunt pencil tip

wailing to be sharpened

Sharpener to be emptied 

Eraser to be cleaned 

Stark white pages 

Screaming to be scribbled 

Maa, don’t allow them to 

Change their DPs to my keepsakes!

Maa, don’t let my living nightmare be 

A rapidly-trending hashtag 

When morning stumbles writhing 

On my tampered bed 

And evening lingers wailing 

Horror of what can’t be said

Don’t let our joint mourning 

Be on air Maa,

Just….stay put Maa!

I was doomed to live

Let my death not be damned 

At least, for once

Let me rest in eternal peace, Maa!

 

Seher Hashmi is a Pakistani living in Bahrain.