Grief in my homeland

grief must be felt

chewed and swallowed

before Monday

so you can go to work 9 to 5

but for those denied justice

grief must be articulated

presented as coherent sentences

served with perfect grammar

enhanced with statistics

it must be spitted out

without fumbling

in the power houses of the oppressed

and company of well meaning allies

grief must be intricately woven

in the stories children hear

horrors of a night

long over, painted vividly for them

so that they carry on the rage and the fight

grief must be carefully archived

in reports and investigations

frozen in songs and poems

grief is not just felt

in my homeland

it is memorised

repeated

chanted

crystallized and

passed on

‍

By Shimaila (from kashmir)

(From Kashmir to Palestine occupation is a crime )