Today I see roses wither… all that is water turns to stone
All that was loved and comforted… is left uncared for and alone
A woman cries and breaks my heart… the pain in her voice shatters bone
She sits beside her father’s grave… crying, father, if you had known
This is Fatima… with no-one beside her… the grave of her father… it gives her no answer
Her wounds are torture… all she can remember… are nails and fire… and crying for Haider
* * *
Against the darkness of the night… alone to his grave, she’d complain
The roses beside him are drowned… her tears upon these roses rain
A daughter yearns her father’s hand… to soothe the wounds that bring her pain
But even if these wounds heal… her memories, they still remain
Daily she’d recall… the door against the wall… as Ali she would call… pierces her the nail
The moon, stars and all… falls with her if she’d fall… upon a broken rib… alone, she would wail
* * *
Father you left me in a flame… everything burns in your absence
Now all my eyes see is fire… and it calls out for your presence
O’ my father from the fire… turns to ashes, all my patience
I came covered in these ashes… but all I heard was your silence
To where do I turn… if my father I yearn… no-one came to heal… the burns on this orphan
In fire I burn… cry for me, my children… my heart’s turned to ashes… wanting you to return
* * *
To you I was like a mother… a mother’s child is her heart
His presence brings to her heart joy… and her heart breaks when they’re apart
Even if I could bear the pain… I felt the pain of Mohsin start
And from the light of daughter… I felt torn from my light, a part
This light was Mohsin… the last of my children… the first to be taken… my heart would be broken
The door would open… my chest would be beaten… till from your beloved… my child had fallen
* * *
(London – 17/02/14)