Kabul Jan is Not Safe

By Mohammad Zaki Zaki

Kabul Jan is not safe
It is not the city of history
It is not the splendid city
It is not the city I had before
It is not the city I hoped for in the future
Kabul Jan is like my dark heart

Full of sorrows
Full of pain
Full of sadness
Full of misery
Full of worries
Full of regrets
I wish the darkness would end

Kabul Jan just changed
I see only strangers around me
No one looks familiar here
It’s like the sun is rising in the west

I think my life is going backward
To a few decades ago
Everything is just changed
Nothing looks normal
No one seems familiar
I wish one day this would end

There will be a hope to wait
There will be a lightness to see
There will be a goal to reach
There will be a mirror to reflect the real face
There will be a safety to live
There will be a cottage to stay
There will be a morning to begin
There will be a moon to inspire
There will be a beam to ignite
There will be a God to pray
There will be a memory to share
There will be a speech to listen
There will be a joy to have fun
There will be a hope not to give up hope
All can be desired
All can be achieved
I wish one day this darkness ends

I look at stars in Kabul’s night
To help me relax
To diminish my pain
To see the wonders
I ask about these days of suffering
But the stars don’t respond

With Kabul’s stars
I share secrets and complaints
What happened to our town
Why this untidy city
Where did our dreams go
My mind travels to the past
Then wanders to the future

Kabul Jan my city
What is to come
For you is unknown