From Womb To The Tomb:

My grandpa was a kind man.

He is no more.

But people still remember him ,

Just the same.

Will they do the same for me?

Or will I just be another name?

When we're born, we all cry,

When we die, others cry.

We laugh for different reasons

yet we laugh just the same

It's the same rumble from deep inside

Followed by a dull stomach pain.

We all want ,what we have not

What we have, we care not.

It's the same vicious cycle.

Drunk on utopia,

Forever on a lookout, forever insatiable.

When I think of this world:

After birth,we take berth

On the face of this earth.

Some have it wide, some narrow.

This is but life's marrow.

Some sleep under thatched roofs.

Some quiver under a blanket of stars,

And hear the sound of horse hooves.

Some rest under the glow of chandeliers

But after death- we all lie in the same 3ft by 8ft

And are buried six feet under.

                                -Khateeja Sadaf

Solitude:

One would call me melancholic

When they read this,

I'd call it solitude

For life is not always a bliss.

Loneliness anchors me down

And makes me feel like a clown!

Mocking at my own shadow-like existence

But this sentence would have looked peculiar in the past tense.

For I was once careless,young and free

And had enough leisurely time

To catch ants , caterpillars and bumble bee.

I kept 'em bottled in a glass jar

With little holes in it.

These moments are like hot chocolate

Which I savour bit by bit.

One question that always haunts me,

"What the hell am I doing here?"

Cause I feel like an alien

Whose spaceship has landed

In this materialistic sphere.

At this moment

Love comes to my rescue

And I bid adieu to solitude.

                                                     - Khateeja Sadaf

Printed In Ink

I exhaled a sigh.

And exhaustedly threw

 the morning paper.

Nothing took me by surprise now,

I felt like a helpless leper.

Brewing the world's miseries

 and drinking it all in.

Perhaps someday

 the reality would seep in.

Nothing made me dizzy no more,

The myriad of crimes

 had dulled my senses.

Rape,murder,disease,war- 

Left not a single scar.

Once in awhile, 

A paedophile or two

Would leave me askew.

Is this how we are to evolve?

The word "humanity"

Washed away from our mind,

With only a bleak line

 that separates us from animal kind.

Time's a wastin!

It's time to do

 a good deed or two,

And earn the title "human" anew.

Alas, I am done.

There's nothing more

 for me to say.

I'd be leaving this haven

 in a score or two,

And I bid ya'll adieu.

            

                                         -Khateeja Sadaf

Camouflage

A pencil behind my ear,
A notebook in my hand,
But no thoughts come to my rescue
Marching in a band.
The sunlight on the terrace
Makes my eyes squint
I look expectantly at the tree
Waiting for a hint.

Is it red, orange, vermilion or yellow?
I dunno but it's so mellow!
People call it flamboyant,
It stands before me 
Like a big , red giant!
That's how I would describe a Gulmohar tree,
Its sheer beauty captivates me.

I hear my neighbour's doorbell ring,
My mother's call for lunch,
I see a sparrow and it's chicks,
Nesting in a bunch.

That's  when I see through Nature's camouflage
And I blend in its beauty.

                                      -Khateeja Sadaf