PESHAWAR: Renowned Pashto poet Ameenullah Daudzai became the first bard to have versified the tragic incident of Army Public School.

His poetic volume ‘Da Gulonoo Marsiyah’ (Dirge of flowers) is the first regular collection of poetic pieces in free verse in Pashto literature on the tragedy.

This is his ninth edition, eight of his poetry collections have already been published while two more are in the press.

Poets and fiction writers have written and will continue to write about APS incident but Mr Daudzai emerged as the first Pashto poet to have launched his volume fully dedicated to APS incident.

Mr Daudzai got premature retirement in 1992 from radio Pakistan, Peshawar as a senior producer to devote himself to writing and reading. His poems have pictorial quality, drenched in his deep romantic and creative thought.

This special 87-page volume contains 68 poems each telling the same story of the same incident from different angles.

He keeps in view not only the innocent victims of the ill-fated Army Public School but also pens down adverse effects imprinted on parents, relatives, siblings and friends of those killed in the tragic incident on Dec 16, 2014.

Ameenullah Daudzai narrates the horrible story from different angles in his 87-page book

Mr Daudzai has versified even miraculously surviving children in his poems. He is known for his keen aesthetic sense and deep critical observant eye. Like a best story teller, he takes along his readers to a logical conclusion but leaves it to them to decide about what should or should not be done.

Being a prolific author, Mr Daudzai has composed around 2,000 poems till now, mostly in free and blanks verse with much ease and diligence as nothing escapes his sharp poetic eyes. He has written profusely in English and Urdu besides Pashto. In a poem ‘Stained with blood’ the poet states that for the last many years, there used to be a nest of a couple of birds on a tall and old tree in your school. On Dec 16, when you were fired upon and bombs were rained all-around, the tree having nest was also hit

“The branch nestling bird’s home fell down. The chicks were blown away before they could fly. Parents came crying near the nest and began calling out to their chicks. To their dismay, they found just feathers of their chicks being stained with blood in their shattered nest,” the poem says.

Similarly, another poem titled ‘Who might be rested in his heart’s place’ describes a brief heart-rending incident. From the bag of one of the killed students of the Army Public School, was recovered a letter addressed to his mother.

Yet another poem notes: “We still receive SMS on your cell phone. Your friend knows very well that you are no more in this mortal world but probably, she consoles herself while texting you in a sweet language. She still promises for a walk out together.

We reply her with bundle of prayers. You our dear son went to paradise. Your prayer is answered and whenever you pray for us, you may not forget your own friend that she may grow up and get her dream.”

Prof Humayoun Huma in his poetic comment on the book says that they were facing an endless tragedy. He says that people being killed mercilessly need no burial and no coffin because their souls had been dissolved into the divine light.

“Their graves are there in our hearts. We shall lit candles with our tears on their graves,” he adds.

Published in Dawn March 25th , 2015

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