Page 49 - Compilation of Poems Arau International Poetry Festival 2021

Meals do not necessarily come in threes,
Nothing much is offered to be devoured
Praying not to be hit by hunger pangs in hours
There are times we could go without food for days
Not a choice, but preserving lives is a fave
We stay in but sometimes they barge in,
Taking what we love among pleads and screams
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A beautiful life in the future dims .

My children do go to school, in blocks full of debris
Holes in walls and shattered panes
They are lucky to have gone and come back even if bags are
searched
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After bouts of interrogations and accusations
A f e o u t f i t r o g a i n s a d c u s t o s
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There is almost no certainty that they will come back to you
When a confrontation is inevitable, bruises and cuts are visible
But like you, we persevere until comes the news that they are
taken away.

We are going to fight till the end
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We are never going to let go what rightfully belongs to us
We want to ensure this very treasure is to be handed down
Exactly like the way we got it from our ancestors
To the small hands in front of us
Till the time arrives, for us to fly high,
We stand firm just like you do,
The time we cherish might come after we die
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Or even after we lose a limb or two.
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