Suffocation

Swimming in the suffocating sea,
I am coerced into my survival,
to go with the flow
to follow my school
set on the precedent of fear.

my muffled voice raised in air bubbles
hardly reached the surface.

invisible to you, but to me the soul
flaunts itself, weightless
as it can carry no mass.

What I thought was my voice
was really an unwelcomed noise.

they forced the creed out of my substance
and let them pollute my conscience
with subtle tyranny.

I gave in. My oppresive death is easy to accept
than lurking restless spirit.

Zeeba T. Hashmi
26th January, 2011

Lahore

(dedicated to Neeli, and myself).