HOME BY ACHINGLIU KAMEI

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BY ACHINGLIU KAMEI

Home nestles under the mists

Arrested, imprisoned 

Between mountains and clouds

Trust and good faith 

Where have the seeds dispersed?

Land that trembles when the wind blows

Home that shakes by internal storms

Feeble walls shaking when words rain

WhatsApp negotiators

Facebook warriors.

Rummaging through the baskets

Like grannies

Searching in vain for their treasures 

For misplaced trust and faith

Desperately trying to salvage.

Home of a people

Tossed about by ‘special’ ‘acts’

The green forests dotted 

By special uniforms 

Looking for dangerous virus.

The land full of pockmarks

Like ravaged by smallpox

By heavy boots

Bore down by heavy weapons

Intruding jaundiced eyes.

Land that had seen umpteen times

Innocent blood flow freely

Onto its sacred rivers unchecked

Broken, dry cries of mothers

Lamenting tortured sons/husbands.

Winter wind cracks with bullets

Mists and tears

Cracked lips, cracked agreements

Gnarled hands tilled field of bones

Watered by dust of lies.

The hills lament its murdered sons

Home and hearth bled, still bleeding

Daughters, mothers destroyed

Camouflaged by ‘special’ ‘acts’

Dark winter made darker by ‘special gifts’.

About The Author

A short story writer, poet, and an ultra-runner, Achingliu Kamei teaches Literature in the English Department of ARSD College, D.U. She loves to pen down her day-to-day life in the form of Haiku. Some of her poems and haiku are published/due for publication in anthologies and journals like ‘Caravan’, ‘Global Warming’ ‘The Looking Glass Anthology’, ‘Insulatus’ and in ‘International journal Setu’, ‘The Little Journal’, ‘Melbourne culture corner’, ‘Poetry pea journal of Haiku and Senryu’, ‘Imphal Free Press’ and other places. She believes that poetry can heal. Her keen interest in literature and art keeps her engaged in writing, despite her busy schedule as a teacher. She is currently working on her next book of folktales - ‘Morning Blush’ and a collection of poems - ‘Flower of Remembrance’. When she is not writing, she’s running marathons and ultras, having run numerous marathons and ultra-marathons. She is currently residing in Delhi, India, with her husband, two daughters, and Haru the cat.