Larkana 1979
Long shadows
the evening sun
and the smell of earth and dung
and the ever-present haze of dust
and the air of hopelessness
and the endless colour of nothing
The waiting night
and the tormented glow worm
visible but not a source of light
and I feel the burden of centuries
and the pain of being
and frozen time
Sad earth
rich harvests
and growing want
unfelt, unheard
brittle frozen icicles
Yet somewhere
unsure despair
weeps her tears
into the bowl of time
and the sigh I hear
is of exception.
Larkana May 1979
Written after Bhuttos’ judicial murder