It’s been so long since we spoke,
We have been dead as humans for many years.
Years have passed
Since we truly spoke,
Since we truly met.It’s been ages now
Since we bought new clothes for festivals.
Instead, we buy hatred,
Drape it around ourselves,
And wander with it like a second skin.Beneath that fabric of hate
We search for limbs,
We search for a religion
That never truly lived there.We have even forgotten
What it means to wish for kindness.
Now we greet each other
With rancor, with vengeance,
Walking crooked paths,
Carrying our wounds like ornaments.Those who have been with us for years,
We now keep at a distance,
Watching them with suspicion.
Whether it is blood in Kashmir
Or blood in Hyderabad,
It is the same blood,
Crushed under the boots of frenzy,
Splintering into silence.What we need now
Is not politics,
Not religion,
But the courage to remain human, together.
Let them speak,
Let them ignite their endless hatreds.Our hunger,
Our poverty,
Who among them wants to carry those burdens?
So let us leave them behind,
And for once,
Let us talk as humans again.
renuka ayola
renuka.ayola@gmail.com
