Your works are enormous, and I have read some of them, Your depth and soul are explicitly expressed in your work .Beautiful! I will still be reading more of your poems to inspire me and learn more on poetry. So again, many thanks, your friend …..

This is a new beginning for me, to be able to write this short but I hope, a meaningful message to a dear friend, who came without any pretense but to share his poems to all mankind. I once said that we live in a sad, confusing, war torn, and poverty stricken Universe.

Hopelessness abounds us, and oftentimes to some death is the only excuse to rest their tired soul. But then again I said that there is hope, hope indeed cuz we have in our midst a poet, who is brave enough to shout and sing and tell the story as it is. In his poems, we are transported to the harsh reality of war, to the unsung heroes that will never be known, to the places that we never in our wildest dreams exist. And yet, inspite of this cruelty and hardship that they endure stands their pride that no one can take away from them, Ah! pride, the last remaining trait any human being can retain, and the only feeling we can keep till our last breath.

Afzal, pays homage to his one and only God, and remembers to thank him for his greatness thru his poems.

And lastly who can deny the fact that we all love, this feeling that is so strong and yet so strange cuz, they bring not only joy but pain, a reason to live and yet a reason to die, and your poems on love are a mixture of feelings ranging from being poignant, inspiring, touching, feeling , sad, and whether your love is requited or not, to read them and to almost feel them is enough, for are we not lucky to have a poet as deep and as endearing as Afzal Shauq.

I met a friend,

and I'm proud to say,

that amongst so many he

stands out to be,

a special person,

so full of compassion.

And on this day,

this very special day,

may I be the first to greet

you, Afzal Shauq........

a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Thank you so much to be my good poetry friend. They say that in this life, there are friends who will only meet in words and in poetry.and for this, we should be thankful, not all are given this opportunity to like one another and support each other's cause.All I know is that you have been constant with your fight for freedom and for peace, and for this, I admire you and respect your beliefs.

Afzal Shauq ! I may be far away, but remember this, you will never be forgotten, cuz we are in the web site, and everytime we write our thoughts, we are there to see and read it.You have a lot of fans and followers, they too believe in your cause…continue to spread your words on freedom and peace, cuz this is what we need in this chaotic world of ours.

Goodbye for now, and I'll be reading you, and maybe I will see you in my dreams, LOL….

Always your friend....Vilma

Vilma Zaballero

Philippines

http://PostPoems.com/members/vilmazab

Tuesday, February 24, 2009 8:29 PM