In the dark times

“In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will also be singing.
About the dark times”
—Bertolt Brecht
The night is dark
I see light across the sky
It is not a light of hope
It is not the sign of dawn
The heat it radiates does not give warmth
It scorches you to ashes
The place I know so well is in rubble
Even I don’t know the way around
I am lost in my own place.
I am clueless about the past,
I’m scared of the present,
I’m not privileged to dream about the future.
I live in the worst of prisons
All the borders are closed
All the shelters are razed to the ground.
In between the loud noise of bombardment
There is the silence that deafens you more
The pounding of my heart dissolves that silence.
There travels the light again!
The fire across the sky tears the canvas of darkness
Where will it fall?
How many lives will it claim?
How many orphans will it create?
How many wails will it initiate?
How many widows will be made?
Nobody has a count.
One of my friends would have lost his limb,
Another one would have stopped her breath.
Hospitals are turning to graveyards
Homes are like slaughterhouses
Every moment somebody stops breathing,
Every moment somebody starts crying
I have forgotten how laughter sounds like.
In a place where living is dangerous
The dead are fortunate!
My turn may come anytime
I will become a number
No-one will remember
But will my death open the eyes of those who caused it?
I love to play in the rain
Though I hate the thunder
But nowadays I hear only thunder
And it’s raining bombs.
Will I ever be hugged by my mother?
Will I ever be carried on the shoulder of my father?
Are they looking for me?
Or are they in their everlasting sleep?
Will I last long to see a peaceful day?
I have lost a leg,
It might be lying under the ruins;
Or eaten by a vulture;
It might have been buried in a mass grave,
Along with people fearless and brave!
Why is our childhood so different?
Who made it so difficult?
Who stole our simple joys?
I look at the dark sky
I don’t see stars
My vision is blurred by tears
My turn will come!
I’m sure my turn will come!!