The Street Children Poem by Nosheen Irfan

The Street Children

Rating: 4.9


They stretched on pavement
From weariness of doing nothing
Under a sky, warm and bright
The shops were closed, the lights were out
The imagination took off to the Milky Way
Smoke cleared up the fog in mind
The road was empty save for the crouching shadows
They went higher and higher, with the rising fumes
For ground was not their destiny
They exhaled clouds of smoke
Through which they saw the door
To Heaven, open and unguarded
And they fell asleep on the stony floor
As if it were the bed of rose.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Topic(s) of this poem: addiction,poverty
COMMENTS OF THE POEM

A creative and captivating composition from one of my favorite poets!

1 0 Reply
Nosheen Irfan 10 February 2016

Thank you my friend.

0 0
Edmund Strolis 10 February 2016

The weariness of doing nothing. The paradox that is all too true. This other world, this alternate universe all sharing the same Milky Way and yet our neighbor is a light year away beneath crouching shadows. Sleeping on a stony floor. You shed light on their sad existence.

1 0 Reply
Nosheen Irfan 10 February 2016

Thank you Edmund for appreciation.

0 0
Souren Mondal 11 February 2016

I am not very sure about how I can interpret this poem but I will take some, rather plenty of liberty, to think that this poem is about addictions that many street children are often forced to be a part of. I used to see a lot of small, tiny children smoking what appeared to be beedis, at times I had seen them sniffing glue and such stuff.. It is painful thing to look at.. They barely have money to find food, but somehow some really pathetic people sell them such stuff and make them a slave of such addictive substances... This is what I feel this poem is about, and it is extremely poignant, and on an artistic level, brilliantly handled as if in a manner that shows a single image imprinted upon the mind of the reader from where she or he can interpret it in their terms.. A wonderful work of art... Poignant, touching, and truly, very well crafted. Thank you for sharing Nosheen..

1 0 Reply
Zaheer Uddin 26 August 2017

you gave voice to their feelings nousheen- very insightful indeed

0 0 Reply
Anil Pillai 08 December 2016

iTS ASTOUNDING WORK COMMUNICATED IN AN AWESOME MANNER!

0 0 Reply
Seamus O Brian 19 October 2016

This is a moving and powerful piece. You have taken a difficult subject and so poignantly communicated it so deftly. Well done, and thank you for sharing your beautiful work. :)

0 0 Reply
Istabraq Al Ahmadi 21 July 2016

The juxtaposition of the stony floor, which is a real image, with the bed of roses, which is a romantic one, is very clever and heartrending. It reminds me of a poem of the same title, with the image of street children who imagined the pavement as soft cushions. Thanks for sharing

0 0 Reply
Istabraq Al Ahmadi 21 July 2016

The road was empty save for the crouching shadows. A very striking image

0 0 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Nosheen Irfan

Nosheen Irfan

Lahore, Pakistan
Close
Error Success