o karachi mine

nice to remember, nicer to recall
the past glows when compared to present
before it passes into today's past
lovingly i recall that Karachi
a fact all my friends and family
remind and accuse me constantly of
growing up, getting it out of me

but how can i help? i simply cannot
it throbs just like that other organ
imprisoned in chest walls, and i concede
while that bundle might cease functioning
the city will live, survive and grow!

if Karachi dies so will Pakistan
Karachi’s pulse reflects the nation’s will
a microcosm of all that is good
and a catalogue of all that ails it
that’s what Karachi is and will remain

from sparkling lighted boulevards
to the ghettoes across the tracks
the glimmering shops of Tariq Road
and bustling Burns Road nihari kebabs
overflowing mosques on Fridays
playgrounds full of future stars
parks with families in open green
and the addicts lurking in the bushes
ostentatious flaunting of wealth
abject poverty averting contact
eyes brimming with bright dreams
looks reflecting stricken nightmare

my Karachi is a throbbing living
city with warts, no Moen jo daro