Sestina for the Forgotten
Halt! Listen to their whispers and feel their hope
Shattered as they lie limbless under mass graves,
Erase your eyes from weeps and endure sorrow,
Honour their long lost lives and roar for freedom,
Tell me, why these women laid near the children?
What have become of us as we observe in silence?
Their screams rose as they burnt, deafening silence,
No media coverage and no one to share their hope,
Villages razed and innocent lives lost their freedom,
They were once in peace playing with the children,
Soon soldiers in black arrived to dig copious graves,
And today, we remember them and pray in sorrow.
Tell me, have their offspring won over their sorrow?
Or have they indulged in drugs to overcome silence,
Owing to false banners and the so-called freedom,
Selling their bodies to traffickers with the children,
Maybe a few fenings or pennies for a future’s hope,
Yet, more bodies pile up on top of rotten graves.
In the news: “The Forgotten’s discovered graves”,
Concealed words disclosed for the souls of sorrow,
Voices heard, books written, survivors lived in hope,
For a better future; for a lovely life without silence,
For new ideas and miracles; for their lovely children,
For their identity; for their faith; for their freedom.
Minorities today still seek their promised freedom,
Ancestors were the same, but betrayed into graves,
Fought even if unarmed and were forever in silence,
Wounds we are yet to replace for dreams and hope,
Still, we need to commemorate our past’s sorrow,
To enjoy our fated future inherited by our children.
We must learn and teach our past to our children,
Such that they keep moving forward to freedom,
And resurrect the long lost lives in the mass graves,
And teach them symbols of peace, love, and hope,
And to reach out and speak for those in silence,
And to create a safe to lock-up the ancient sorrow.
Silence! Listen to the graves sing a beautiful melody
To sorrow over those whose freedom is forever lost
And to share the children their love, hope, and peace.
Tuesday, 5th
of February 2013
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