Pakistan Zindabad

By Sajida Farhat

A people betrayed for years,
looking for messiahs, saints, leaders!
Stumbling over craggy paths
Their yearning aching souls
Reaching out in desperation for anything
resembling a straw.

Blinded with hopelessness,
Falling flat on their faces
every now and then.

Bodies stiff with fatigue, eyes devoid
of hope or dreams,
have yet again spotted a mirage!

The vacuum, like a gaping wound,
appears close to being filled.

Is it witchcraft, one wonders,
or perhaps black magic.
Mesmerized crowds of men
and women, chanting slogans,
rushing frantically towards
the sight,
may soon come face to face
with their destiny.
Alas! The destiny of a nation
in the monstrous claws of a nightmare, yet again!