One Poem by Lynda Tavakoli

 

UNKNOWN 99

 

There is a baby

in the hospital labelled

Unknown 99                                               

like some odd, uninteresting gift

relegated to the nameless list,

 

but I will call you

Little Miracle

and dare to think about

the who it is

you might become

 

when time transports you

to a place of

cradling light,

where displaced names

have lost their anonymity,

 

where the moon can chase

the stars in limpid skies,

and where silence sheds

its longing into sleep

like melted snow.

 

I see you there,

war’s Little Miracle,

your belly full again,

your heart the beating presence

of a nation’s grief.

Lynda Tavakoli is a poet, novelist and freelance writer from Northern Ireland. She is a professional member of the Irish Writers Centre and was nominated for both the Best of the Net 2022 and the Pushcart Prize 2023 by Lothlorien Poetry Journal for her writing in short story fiction. Lynda has facilitated the Seamus Heaney Award for schools and numerous creative writing classes for adults.  ‘The Boiling Point for Jam’ (Arlen House), her debut poetry collection, has received wide acclaim for its raw honesty and authenticity.