Life Has Become Quiet
Since friendship receded and quietness succeeded
You became a detached observer of your life
Something about that was peaceful. Is that an afterlife?
The steering wheel feels light
When you give up the fight
Watching people and traffic pass you by
You felt nothing. Because you got by?
There’s no impulse to act or change things
It’s not depression, it’s not hopelessness; it’s just something
As friendship receded and quietness succeeded
Stillness became your new world
And nothing to say was the word
Afterthought
The poem is a series of random thoughts I’ve been having, between days when nothing changes, but then, when I look back, nothing is the same.
It wasn’t a poem in my head. I just needed to write something down about the quietness of the days—the loneliness in me. And so when I started writing, it was the middle of the night, the house was quiet with no distractions, and what came out was short and not exactly prose.
‘Life has become quiet’ might be relatable to those undergoing some disturbances in life. We all tend to feel something is not right from time to time, but can’t put a finger on what’s going on, feel powerless, and don’t have enough information to gain control of anything.
It is also an attempt to write when emotions are unclear. A prayer that the haze will clear; a reminder that we are on our own with our thoughts and feelings at any given time.
A Pakistani writer
