I N    M E M O R I A M

M. Azim Khan - Peshawar

"My status in written in the stars, my symbol is in the hearts of our people" -Z.A. Bhutto


They closed on you
In the dead of night,
Those cut-throat thugs
with lolling tongues,

Death in the gallows
A Rose is put to sleep.

How do I end?
Where do I begin?

Yes, indeed
You knew them all -
The stripped hyena
with spotted stars,
The hounds of heaven,
The serpentine courts
with fangs of justice,
And the catamite drummers
bayoneting our breasts.

Death in the gallows,
A Rose is put to sleep.

Look, what they
have done-
They have ravaged
our half-built cities,
And ransacked the hearts
of your folks,
It's a land of offal and
stench.

Grubby boots, imbecile minds,
Broken promises, lidless eyes,
Women beating their breasts,
Chains have no ends.

Death in the gallows,
A Rose is put to sleep.