Written by Riva Ahsan
Dear World,
This rubble is too heavy
for my newborn bones to bear.
My heart has not hardened yet
to carry this much hate.
I came out of a warm womb
into a dark, dusty ruin.
My mouth searches for milk
but my own tiny, empty fist
is all it can find to suckle.
I can sense my mother nearby,
but she is too cold to hold me now.
Her heart echoes around me no more;
her lullabies rock me to sleep no more.
It’s just me in here and my
incessant, nascent cries.
Protective hands of a father
used to caress me once –