On Doing Little
by Muhammad Shanazar
I stood all alone
On the round rock,
And beheld below
Into the valley,
The smouldering substance,
Smoke rose,
Dissipated into spheres,
Explosives
Blackened the ground,
And I smelt the stench
Of burning blood.
Then I saw descending,
A queue of angels,
From heights
Of the yonder mountain;
They were white, black and brown,
They were toddling down
To the singed valley,
And in hands they bore
Beacons of dreams.
They gathered around
One by one,
Sat jumbled holding
Their tiny bare feet,
All pricked, perforated
With the points of thorns;
And had a similar complaint
On the lips.
“You scattered
The seed of bushes,
On the path
Whereupon the children
Of Adam
Would have to pass,
You multiplied miseries,
You snatched
Richness, and fertility
Of the mother Earth,
You polluted
Rivers and rills,
You eroded
Mounts and hills,
Faults were yours
But we suffer though the penalty.”
I listened to them
Drooping my head,
And felt guilty
To my own conscience,
On scattering seed
Of thorny bushes,
Instead of planting
The cuttings of roses,
I was really ashamed
On doing little
For the angles:
The descending generations.
Yes! I confess,
I made the world
A store of weapons;
Its plains, the battlefields.
Oh! Inhabitants of the Earth,
It is time to revamp
Our mode of actions;
Let us remove
The fear of extinction,
By disposing of instruments,
Of conflicts, fights and wars,
Conventional, chemical and nuclear.
Let us eliminate,
The stench of explosives
By perfuming the world
With sweet fragrant roses.
Let us sing
A song of harmony:
Peace for the East, peace for the West,
Peace for the North, peace for the South,
And peace, peace for both of the anti-poles.
Let us hand over the world
To our children
Beautified and worth-living,
Let us be the residents,
Being makers and producers,
Architects and designers,
And manufacturers of commodities
Of love, of faith, of tolerance,
And not being the destroyers:
Killers and slayers.
From:
Muhammad Shanazar |
About MuhammadShanazar
Biography
Muhammad Shanazar, a famous contemporary poet from Pakistan, was born into a poverty stricken family in a village of Sub Division Gujarkhan District Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on 25th Nov., 1960. His father served in Pakistan Army; he was recruited by the colonial rulers when he was only 10 years old. On the day he was recruited, he wore only a shirt given by someone from the neighbourhood considering him an orphan child. Muhammad Shanazar got his early education from the local school. He passed his SSC Examination from Government High School Mandra, Intermediate from Government Hashmat Ali Islamia College, Rawalpindi, graduation from Gordon College, Rawalpindi, and M.A in English Literature, from University of the Punjab. After post graduation he served three years as a constable in Police Department. He found it uncongenial to his temperament and decided to leave it, meanwhile luckily he came upon an opportunity to join the Department of Education (Technical Wing) to render his services as a lecturer in English Language and Literature. After holding this position for seventeen years, he was promoted Assistant Professor, and at present he is serving at Government College of Commerce at Kahuta. He started seriously writing poetry with specific purpose behind it in 1998. He chose English to express the voice of his conscience. The prime objective he has been working for is to make humanity aware of the sanctity of human life i.e. “A single drop of human blood possesses more worth than all treasures that the Earth contains”. Voices Network from North Carolina U.S.A placed him among the prominent contemporary poets by awarding him the International Special Distinction “Poet in Residence” in 2004. Since then being one of the Poetry Judges of online international poetry contests hosted by Voices Network, he has been judging the poems. He also worked as an International Poetry Ambassador in Pakistan on the behalf of Voices Network, North Carolina and held several poetry reading sessions, to promote peace through poetry. Poemhunter of France and Bollywood of India chose him one of the ‘Top 500 Poets in the World’, World Society of Poets bestowed upon him honour by placing him among the prominent contemporary poets of the world. Govt. of Pakistan, Ministry of Education awarded him the award of “Promotion In Children Literature” with the cash prize. Muhammad Shanazar received appreciation from all around the world for his highly intellectual work.
