I

Flying cars
And salad bars
Finger phones
And kishmish scones
Are not the 'in' things in Lahore
There's more
Of history to the city
Look at the digitised tomb of Jehangir
And silicon sheen to Anarkali's grave
Look at the virtual state of the Shalamar
Don't go in there, don't, be brave
History is a palm device
Less virtue, more vice

    **II**

Karachi, still youthful And unfaithful
To its beloved
The dogged
Arabian Sea
A fantasy
Of arid zones and fertile bones
Look at a gangster
Sucking life out of the ozone layer
And a goon returning from Mars
Tired and trite
Look at communities fighting for a piece of land
First discovered by satellite
The future is uncertain
Wait, let's not draw the iron curtain.

 Published in Dawn, EOS, August 13th, 2017