THE EXODUS




The river shrunk ,valley torn apart,
I stand one with nature, with a bleeding heart,
Barren hills stare at the grey sad clouds,
Alas! None here with us to laugh aloud!



Flowers bleed 
And blood feeds
A cracked brown soil,
The red of turmoil.



A breeze silently blows,
Over the valley flows,
An eerie hush,
Shaken by the memories' rush.



Loud gun shots,
Bombarding my thoughts,
Spilled milk of mothers,
Fragments of hymen of sisters.



Babies crushed and trampled,
By the hands of their own mothers suffocated, 
Torn clothes, battered ladies,
Sitting amongst bloody, naked bodies.



All forced to leave their birthplace, evacuate,
In disgrace, withdraw and escape,
With whatever little they managed,
For their world stood destroyed, damaged.



I still see the blood flowing in the waters
Of the once crystal clear river,
Some blood stains and few bloody hands shine clear,
Deep red, still embedded in the rocks and boulders.



The stink of blood and rotten flesh float in the air,
Smell of colourful flowers no more dwell here,
Signs of life my eyes stress to see;
But nothing else is in sight, only me.



Houses stand like ghosts,
No happiness they now host,
Instead they carry horror gory,
Nerve wrecking and dreary stories.



Day and night both sleep now,
Just managing to look somehow
At people; some strangers, some their own;
And someone like me, standing all alone.



I wait for the river to dance and gurgle again,
For the snow to fall and the blissful rains 
That would wash away the gore and stink,
Place nature and humans all in sync.



Forgetting the pain of the exodus,
Calming down the obstreperous,
The past wiped away by forgetfulness,
Forgetting all cruelty, bitterness.



Embracing the valley back, as one,
Like comrades and brethren,
Making it happy and fertile,
The burbling river,singing trees, all reconciled. 

©Madhumita