While following NDTV coverage of the Mumbai attacks, I came across this phrase used by Prannoy Roy and his anchors: "the faces of tragedy". As a consequence, I wrote the following lines, a reflection not just of Mumbai, but of the world we presently live in.
Orphaned by hate
Widowed by spite
Battered by brutality
Scarred for life
We are
The faces of tragedy
Sculpted by the tools of terror.
Stammering with sorrow
Uttering rage
Expressing uncertainty
Manifesting helplessness
We are
The voices of a city
Tempered by the trauma of terror.
Listening in anguish
Watching with disbelief
Waiting in fear
Susceptible to rumour
We are
The conscience of a country
Stricken by the torture of terror.
And, in our voices, on our faces,
In the depths of a conscience
We are
A breed of people
That can only wonder
At the inhumanity of humanity.
Friday, November 28, 2008
In Humanity
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2 comments:
"The faces of tragedy; Sculpted by the tools of terror"
I think that's the most powerful line in the poem.
The poem catches the true essence of the emotions, actions and response of everyone who has seen the tragedy unfold. A very strong choice and arrangement of words.
May Allah ease the pain of those who have lost loved ones, Inshallah.
Thanks Ismail. In fact, the three of us are flying to Mumbai exactly six days from today.
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