On The Grave Of My Brother
by Muhammad Shanazar
The spot where now I stand was empty,
Undisturbed for the years, only tufts of grass swayed,
But now filled in with a heap of fresh dug earth:
The grave of my brother.
The memories of the past have begun to emerge
As panic fishes come out upon the surface of the sea.
We slept on the same bed for a decade,
We played in the same yard together
Through the years of childhood,
We played hide and seek, ran after the butterflies,
Yes, together in the mustard farms,
We ran through the streets while monsoon rains rained,
We stood under the spouts to have the most delicious bath.
O! Brother you explained to me
The mysteries with the childish wisdom,
“The stars are the shinning rivets,
The moon and the sun: the loaves of gold and silver,
And twilight the crimson particles of dust.”
O! Brother you laboured, you toiled a lot
Against the odds of life, at last you lost the race
Trudging through the quagmire of misfortunes.
O! Brother you are fortunate for you have got
The place in the feet of your mother,
You have been entrusted to the grave
Amid the sobs, shrieks and cascades of tears,
With all religious obsequies, all threw handfuls of earth,
And some performed the obligation with shovels.
I see into future we who remain behind are not sure
What fate we shall meet, whether we shall have graves
Or our bodies will lay unburied with the scavengers around;
Who knows when itchy leprous fingers will activate
The nuclear or chemical devices, the world will change into
An amphitheatre of corpses rotting in the hot sun.
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.
