Conundrum

By Urwa Tul Wusqa

Do you see the horror that beholds past dusk?

In the lands where zephyr once smelt of musk

Do you feel the chill down your spine?

When the ‘other’ claims what is yours and mine

Do you drown in the sea of desolation and agony?

When your existence is incidental to that of the cavalry

Do you perish at the sight of flesh and blood?

When the flesh turns pale of the young and the blunt

Do you hold back your tongue and just walk out?

When the many subdue the few, for there is no reason to mount

Do you feel your heart pounding through your chest?

When the eagle comes and annihilates your nest

Do you see what I see, what I feel, what I have lost?

Do you see who reaped the profits and who incurred the costs?

Do you see the sun setting over us, now and forever?

Have we failed ourselves, our families, with our endeavours?

Do you face the conundrum as you breathe?

When the knife is slid out of its sheath

Do you see what is gone and what is yet to come?

Or do you stay oblivious to the zero sum?

Do you crave for the fragrant breeze and for the sun to reshine?

For the phoenix will rise from ashes, when ‘yours’ becomes ‘mine’.

By Urwa Tul Wusqa