I am Malala.

Because I rose from the night of capture,

Because I raised my head high to see dawn,

Because I awoke from the nightmare,

Because my pen became my sword,

To break through the vicious cage...

You answered my questions by spilling blood

-the price of your brutality, the cost of my outcry for freedom

Because I fought for my right

Because I didn’t keep silent

Because I didn’t shut myself in your cage

Because I didn’t fear your continuous threat

You tried to cease my life and silence that voice

A spark once triggered spreads

And swallows like wild-fire

The spark will shine and glow

And will forever be enlightened

I will rise again

I will be the dawn

I will awake

I AM FREEDOM

Fresh air, pure thought

Clear sky, free world

And here I am

Free in mid-air

As the second lasts

I breathe the air

Relish the sky

Refresh my thoughts

As the second slows

I say, “I’m free”

Yes, I am freedom

I am freedom when I say what I think

I am freedom when I do what I say

I am freedom when I free my thoughts

And raise my arms high

To touch the eternal sky

When I ask “why?”

I take a step into light

When I raise my voice high

I make a start to spread

I unleash my thoughts

I untie my binds

I unlock my mind

I am freedom

I am freedom, I go by my way

I am free from barriers of time

I am free of the handcuffs of suppression

I am free of the limit to expression

I am freedom

I am free to see, to love, to care

I am free to say, to hear

I am free to live as I wish

Yes, I am freedom

You make me cry

I’ll smile through tears

You make me weak

I’ll grow stronger

You hold me there and say that I can’t

I’ll show you what I can

You take my smiles away

You seize my voice

You cage me, capture me

You cannot cease my thoughts

I am freedom, I’ll still fight

I am freedom, I’ll still speak

I am freedom, I will think

I am freedom, I’ll break free

I’ll run through miles of distance

To see and relish my clear sky

And then I’ll slowly walk up to it

And raise my arms free...

THE SHADY PICTURE

If you cannot bear the shady clouds
If you strive for the clear sky
and if you are cruel enough
to complain that the clouds aren't transparent
then I could clear your misconception
the clouds drift away
to clear the sky
the dust rains to bring
the clear to sight
they give away to wind
they give up for the clear sky you seek
but when you finally see your sky clear
you'd roll your eyes
and turn your back to it
but that will be an answer
to questions you asked
that will be your challenge accepted
and then to such critics I will say
"thank you for the motivation"

Footprints on sand

Trail of footsteps behind me

Footprints in sand

The white foam of the ocean wave

Erasing them

Or taking them into its waters

The breeze, the ocean,

The waves stroking at my feet

And then retreating

The ocean...looking unending

Merging into eternal skies

Yet seeming near

It's intimacy with my thoughts

It's bond with my feelings

As if i see all of life in it's vast waters

Perhaps it speaks to me of birth and rise

Like it's new-born wave crest far away

Rises into a high tide

Or it speaks of a welcoming

As it accepts the sunrays of dawn in summer,

The first rain of the monsoon

It beacons the path of winds

And sacrifices it's water to the sky

It flows as a cycle

The ocean glides violently

With the howl of wind

Again it cradles the air softly

Peacefully...it's growl

turning into a lullaby

The same ocean inspires me

As i stroll on wet sand

It takes me to the world of treasured thoughts

Sometimes to memories...sometimes to imagination

Then the lines take shape in my mind

So fresh, so pure, so spontaneous

I collect pearl-shells that stop at my bare feet

And rush back to write my words

The ocean draws me back

And seizes my words

I don't regret losing them to the ocean

Because as it sways triumphantly

It soothes my heart

I wonder, maybe the words aren't great enough to describe it

Perhaps the feel of it, the sight of it cannot be written

Again i relish my footprints in sand

And the feel of ocean waves at my feet...

Shades of the Sky

as I see the world

bathed in the setting sun

as I see the colours

crimson orange yellow

fading into the blue

of the sky

blotched with the white of the clouds

as they form shades of purple

and darken into mauve

mauve purple lavender white

the clouds start grouping

the white turns to grey to black

shadowing the rugged mud floor

and then I look at the sky again

a little drop of icy water falls on my cheek

and then a few more

and then all around me

raindrops that drench me in colours of the sky

then the colour of the sky turns

crimson orange yellow to mauve to purple

to lavender and white and grey

and now to clear blue

crystal clear as a sapphire

amongst thousands of raindrops

the sun chooses one

and penetrates through the diamond

that shines with the sun's saffron shade

out it throws a path of seven colours

violet indigo blue green yellow orange red

on the clear blue...

and relishes me with the shades of the sky...

Awaiting

Wandering lonely in this dark night,

Eyes at the city lights

But seeing somewhere far away

Awaiting a star...

When eyes trace a horizon

Wherefrom alight may dawn

Awaiting the brightest sun

On this quiet new moon

I stand still as a rock

The moist breeze blows past

It cannot move me

It cannot fulfil my toil

A smile on my lips

No humour, no pleasure either

Just a burning hope

A waiting...

Today I shed no tear

Today I bear no sorrow

For all this had hardened me

Strengthened my heart to rock

Today I’m just awaiting...

Autumn

Like dried up leaves are shed down

When loved ones let you down

Only the green are held up tight

The yellow-orange are forgotten

How green and pure they used to be

When they swayed in wind

On that forgotten day

The wind never blows with them today

It just blows past the forgotten

Making fresh the wounds of time

And making moist the memories of love...

A poet's world

He sits in his world of delight

Thinks of all he wants to tell

His canvas, a plain page

His pen, his paintbrush

And when his pen paints colours of ink

He calls himself a painter,

The world calls him a poet

He paints every word with care

Like precious beads on string

Like jasmine flowers in thread

Sometimes his tears turn to ink

Sometimes his smiles to words

Some days he writes and cries

Some days he cries and writes...

Sometimes he writes in pain

Sometimes in toil

Sometimes with content

Sometimes with love

He writes of love and hatred

And of war the world suffers

He writes of kids licking ice-creams

And of families on holidays

He shares his world with the world

He shares his canvas with people

He paints his world

He paints his thoughts

He writes of what he sees

Of what he thinks and feels,

He shares the world’s joy

He shares the world’s grief

Not of diamonds and pearls he speaks

But of blooming flowers in spring

Yes, of dying and falling he speaks

But of rising again he writes...

Wind Chimes

They tinkle and jingle around my heart...

And like my heart they dance

Around their own subtle music

Across the small space between them and me

As they tinkle, my heart tinkles back-responding

And every tinkle of the wind chimes

Echoes around my heart

Strikes every memory and echoes back

Gives me pain, gives me pleasure

Gives me tears both of glee and grief

The howl of wind shatters them

They break down into pieces

Irreparable pieces of my heart

They still swing and dance to the tune of air

Giving their tune to my song

My song of life only they can hear

Their song of music only I can hear...