Lullaby
Hurmat Altaf
My land is in need of a lullaby,
A lullaby that may soothe it’s torn heart.
From thousands of nights,
My land hasn’t slept well.
A perpetual nightmare haunts it,
Like a beast haunts a deer.
The nightmare of the shrieks of the innocent
The nightmare of a mother’s sigh,
The nightmare of the gory roads
The nightmare of absences as years pass by!
Like a mother cuddles her child,
Soothes him by reciting a lullaby in her melodious voice.
My land is also yearning for someone,
To soothe it’s sore wounds by singing a lullaby.
And then it may forever sleep in solace,
As all nightmares disappear without a trace.
(The poetess is pursuing B. A honours in English at Cluster University, Srinagar. She can be mailed at hurmatkhan32@gmail.com).
