Elated to say my poem ‘Omid’ has been published in Borderless Journal. You can read the poem on the Journal’s site by clicking on the below link.

Omid

---

 

Omid

Seven years she’d waited for him

She’d prayed five times each day

At fajr, zuhr, asr, maghrib and isha

On the nineteenth day of Ramadan

twelve thousand seven hundred and seventy five prayers

Had been answered

She thought, as his tiny fingers wrapped

Around hers,  his eyes still closed

‘Ya Allah!’ she thanked God

for Omid

. 

‘Omid’ – it means hope

His body still warm

From being nursed

At her breast

Now he lay still

His pure, fresh blood splattered on the white floor

I want to understand why Omid died

Was it her punishment?

For giving birth to hope –

an unforgivable mistake in the eyes of non-believers.

 .

I thought like them that thrust the bullet

Into his tender chest. It shattered his ribs

and punctured his heart. 

I cannot understand

I think, maybe, because I am not as bad.

I thought like the merciful God who gave him life

Seventeen seconds of motherhood He had granted

In exchange for her every prayer

I cannot understand

I think, maybe, because I am not as good

 .

For God is always good

and merciful

my mother says

I cannot understand

So, I pray –

For Omid and

 his mother

And others like Omid-

crushed

before they knew what, it means ‘to be alive.’

The poem is a tribute to those who lost their lives in the shooting when 3 men dressed as policemen entered a hospital and went to the maternity ward and shot babies, mothers who had just delivered and doctors. A total of 16 people were killed in the shooting on May 12th. To read about it, you can click the below link.

For news of the shooting please click on the below link

Afghanistan shooting

 

Copyright©2020.lifeateacher.wordpress.com. All Rights Reserved.