![[1:45 PM, 11/17/2025] +92 321 4424568: Sitting between the sea and the buildings He enjoyed painting the sea’s portrait. But just as children imagine a prayer Is merely silence, he expected his subject To rush up the sand, and, seizing a brush, Plaster its own portrait on the canvas. So there was never any paint on his canvas Until the people who lived in the buildings Put him to work: “Try using the brush As a means to an end. Select, for a portrait, Something less angry and large, and more subject To a painter’s moods, or, perhaps, to a prayer.” How could he explain to them his prayer That nature, not art, might usurp the canvas? He chose his wife for a new subject, Making her vast, like ruined buildings, As if, forgetting itself, the portrait Had expressed itself without a brush. Slightly encouraged, he dipped his brush In the sea, murmuring a heartfelt prayer: “My soul, when I paint this next portrait Let it be you who wrecks the canvas.” The news spread like wildfire through the buildings: He had gone back to the sea for his subject. Imagine a painter crucified by his subject! Too exhausted even to lift his brush, He provoked some artists leaning from the buildings To malicious mirth: “We haven’t a prayer Now, of putting ourselves on canvas, Or getting the sea to sit for a portrait!” Others declared it a self-portrait. Finally all indications of a subject Began to fade, leaving the canvas Perfectly white. He put down the brush. At once a howl, that was also a prayer, Arose from the overcrowded buildings. They tossed him, the portrait, from the tallest of the buildings; And the sea devoured the canvas and the brush As though his subject had decided to remain a prayer.](https://jaridatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/7a3d07e2520956fc23437be48d32cae50c1eb8a5-860x573.jpeg)
Welcome to Jarida Today, a premier newspaper that strives to be the vanguard of quality journalism. With a focus on development and cultural diversity, we are dedicated to informing, inspiring, and engaging our readers while offering a balanced perspective. As enshrined in Article 19 of Pakistan’s Constitution, Jarida Today upholds the right to freedom of expression.
Publisher
Mr. Jairus Ben Jesus
CEO
Ch. Ghulam Mujtaba Murala
Know Us Better
Special
Categories
Contact Detail
- 120-D, Business Hub, Broadway Commercial, Phase-VIII, Defense Housing Authority, Lahore, 54000, Punjab, Pakistan
- +92 346 6582 352
- jaridaeditorial@gmail.com