Reflections on the never-ending war drama in Afghanistan
The Guernica of Kabul
Projected perceptions
on Shayrdarwaza’s Lion Gate precipice
stare at the logic of skewed perspective
that glares at its own image
etched in self-deception.
The illusion of righteousness
and the fog of ignorance
play Central Asia’s Great Game,
the Buzkashi:
A ram’s head dragged the distance,
its horns spiral in opposite directions
drawing parallel lines in the sand
between the conflict and conflicted.
Shadows of familiar faces
fake accents of deception
between biting sarcasm and irking irony:
—Will we survive Democracy?
—Can’t be worse than Communism.
Against the backdrop of
tangled and twisted heads of
bulls and beasts,
horses and horsemen,
Guernica is painted
in ash gray and phosphorous white.
Life is mangled
in death-defying drama of survival.
The silhouette of a daunted woman
dies a third death,
but refuses to be mourned.
Zaman Stanizai
090909-110825
