The Ghastly Forties Poem by Sadiqullah Khan

In the ghastly forties wear black
Out of thirty soul mates
You may wear out your ‘medicated’
Sleep with none.
Forget if your socks are lost
Or a hole at the toe.
In the old age of youth
‘Old boy’ suits well, and what
Others say. If someone watching
Your mail. Let it go.
A crush on a narcissus, do not
Allow to devastate, and the emotional
Scenes, rampant, -a little girl
Suckling mother is not a Mary.
Forgive your ‘Xs’ and ax
Visiting fashion houses, -wearing
Tight jeans, when you ask
The waiter, who calls you ‘sir’
To lend you a hand. Stop visiting
To student cafes. In the aerobics class
Don’t pretend youth, -they know it.
Not listening to alternative rock,
It is ok. And if you have killed
A possum, with a stick
Attacking your chicken, and shot
At stray dogs, -its fine.
If someone says you will go
To hell, -tell you will.
And a young girl pushes you back
If you trying to squeeze in
Between her and her friend-
Put a kind smile, like you are
Ecstatic. And a side roommate,
In his twenties, looking older than
You, if he calls ‘uncle’. Be generous.
If you are a Pashtun, wear cap,
Rosary in hand, ‘always in the mosque’
Turn into a Haji, even if you
Sell drugs. And on the profile, update
‘Raj hans has converted, share’.
And if you are a poet,
Praise only unto God.

Sadiqullah Khan
Peshawar
March 1,2014.

Old Man Reading by Mindy Goldman @ JaneGlenholmes EBSQ Self Representing Artists

This piece the serene moment of an old man reading. The cold weather and the bustle of Boston's Downtown Crossing don't bother him. Even the pigeons pay him no mind as they go about their business and he continues to read. This Painting was awarded a Silver Medal @ the 2005 Alameda County Fair in Northern California.