THE BRIDGE

Drinks with a Ghost ! by Asfa Iman - Pakistan

When we were kids, we used to shift from one city to another, often, as my father was in the army. Once for a short span of time we were shifted to an old farmhouse which belonged to some rich ‘Sikh family’ before partition. During summer vacations, all our cousins gathered at our place. We used to have fun by watching dramas on cable, telling ghost stories and frightening each other. We used to play a game where one of our cousins pretended to become a ghost by wearing a white shawl and scaring off everybody. Mostly Zohan enacted as the ghost. We knew he was acting but still for fun we got scared and started to scream. The play went on like this; the ghost came to frighten us, we got scared but then ghost befriended us and we used to have drinks together (mostly lassi, a famous beverage of Punjab). But Zohan was very forgetful so whenever we talked to him about last night’s game, he'd say, he didn't remember much. We enjoyed that play a lot until that one day. While we were having drinks with Zohan as ghost, another Zohan came from a room sleepy and told us not to make noises. We screamed and burst out of that room not knowing who was under the shawl...

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Blessed Nights of Solitude! by Asfa Iman - Pakistan

In nights, all alone

Tears stream down my face, for sins I've known

When I chose this Duniya¹ over Akhirah²

But now I seek forgiveness from Almighty Allah

 

Harsh words I've spoken, people I've hurt

Leave my soul feeling heavy, burdened with dirt

For in these nights of Ramadan⁴, I feel the weight

Of all my mistakes, and the harm, I've created

 

But deep down I have faith that I can mend

With God's mercy, and love that will never end

For the good deeds and kindness, I've done

Can outweigh the wrongs, and bring back the lost sun...

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Abandoned! by Asfa Iman - Pakistan

In the corner sat a tiny cat

Abandoned and alone, no mother at

My heart ached, at her pitiful sight

And I took her in, with delight

 

I gave her all the love I had

To make up for her mother's bad

But as she grew, I realized so

Her eyes, mirrored a similar glow...

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