The Dirge of Five Rivers Tonight
Arlington, VA
2024, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
In Punjab’s arms, rivers weep dry under moons’ cold scythe tonight,
Fields parch as echoes of sorrow seep through life’s sieve tonight.
Beneath cracked skies, where once flowed life in veins of five rivers,
Farmers’ sighs pierce the silence, haunted by death’s reprieve tonight.
Drought-worn earth, crumbling prayers left unanswered, desolate,
Crops wither, loans drown dreams in shadows where souls grieve tonight.
Floods rage as nature’s anger sweeps through land’s open wounds,
Lives swept away, hopes drowned, in a turbulent heave tonight.
In court of neglect, brown hands plead, unseen, unheard, unseen,
Governments turn blind eyes; justice hides, hearts deceive tonight.
Bodies line fields, a morbid harvest sown by debt’s cruel hand,
Ghosts of farmers wander lost, where promises misweave tonight.
Beneath indifferent stars, brown skins bear the weight of scorn,
As Punjab’s heart bleeds silent tears, cruel heavens reprieve tonight.
Witness the world’s apathy, their gaze cold and distant, white,
Punjab’s agony is wrapped in shadows, as they cleave tonight.
Reflection
Reflection
Growing up, I was familiar with ghazals as expressions of love and loss, but it was the work of Kashmiri-American poet Agha Shahid Ali that inspired me to see the ghazal as a form of resistance. By using this traditional poetic form, I aimed to explore the deep sense of loss and longing intertwined with the suffering in my home-state of Punjab caused by droughts, floods, predatory-loans, and governmental-neglect. This ghazal serves not only as a lament for the current state of Punjab but also as a call for recognition and change, capturing the resilience and pain of its people.