Two Poems by Shirali Raina

 

Song of the Lost Voice

 

 

I too have a voice 
A voice cried out in the darkness 
The cruel cold night chilled it. 
In the garden of silences 

It lay, deep and rotting 

Never to be heard again 

 

Next morn’, the birds sang 
They sang to one another 
The song of the lost voice. 
They sang on every tree 
They sang in every sky 
And the song flew, far and wide 

 

The guns could not burn it 
The bars could not hold it  
Fearless the song carries on 

Waiting on wings of hope 

For a day and dawn to bear, 

An earth with a human ear.

Who are we? 
 
Egos wrapped tight, 
And insular skins 
Of brown, black, 
Yellow and white. 
Colors and races 
None we forget, 
Yet forget to forgive. 
We! 
The blood and bone 
Of the same Adam and Eve. 
 
 
Seeping through a 
Thousand centuries, 
Buried in million veins, 
Skeins of pride  
Envy, lust and greed, 
Eternal flaws of man 
Riding through histories. 
We! 
The travellers of change 
Yet trapped in ancient journeys.

Shirali Raina, a physician and a public health professional from India, has a keen interest in writing about human and social values. She has authored a chapter in the book ‘To be Heard: Women’s Voices Across Land and Sea” an anthology of narratives from women authors across continents. Her short stories and poems have found home in various publications like Hektoen International, Lothlorien Journal of Poetry and Burrow.