The Kite

April 25, 2025

The pigeon laid her eggs

in the narrow space

between the window and the AC outer.

She knew it to be a safe space

beyond the reach of predators.

Patiently she sat on her eggs

the chicks hatched

she watched them grow.

One day, a day like any other day,

she flew away to forage for her young

 only to return

to an empty nest.

A kite, being a kite,

had swooped down

and with one swift, precise strike

(that left one stunned yet awed)

snatched her young.

Nature’s laws are cruel,

true.

Yet

man has become what he was not

a predator by choice

feeding on the young and the innocent.

Nishat Wasim

Nishat Wasim has been writing and publishing poetry since 1984. Her poems have been published in national newspapers, magazines and The Journal of the Pakistani Academy of Letters. In addition, her poems were included in the anthology Poetry From Pakistan. Oxford University Press. Karachi 1997. Nishat is senior faculty at the dept. Of English. The University of Karachi. Karachi, Pakistan.

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