JEREMIAD- "IMPRISONED FOR LIFE" BY SALONI

We were imprisoned for life,

before we were born,

by our Destiny, when 

God engraved bold lines 

of Bad Luck on our palms. 

We were allowed to grow, study 

and learn the virtues of life, 

of mankind and the world. 

But were not allowed to 

reap the rewards of these :

not allowed to enjoy marital bliss, 

not allowed a sound career, 

not allowed to let our talents 

bloom with all their fragrance, 

not allowed to let our intelligence 

reach out to the world, 

not allowed to enjoy 

the joys of relationships, 

not allowed the peace of 

a comfortable home,

not allowed name or fame, 

not allowed to enjoy 

sound health or wealth -

Caged birds with beautiful wings 

not allowed to fly or 

even flap their wings.

Those birds are still lucky -

at least can breathe

from between the sleeks

of the cage bars.

We were not fortunate enough ! 

We were pushed behind 

multiple layers of prisons -

Living corpses, partially strangled, 

suffocated : every moment 

a struggle for existence, 

every moment in fear 

of the next moment,

Hurricanes and Typhoons

slashing through us each moment.

Having forgotten that 

there exists in the dictionaries -

a word called "Freedom" !

Fate has already dug our grave,

and Time, which has shown 

little mercy on us,

is steadily pushing us 

towards the grave.

Life without life and

Death without death 

is our only achievement 

and biggest experience of life ! 

SALONI CHAWLA

The poet persona uses language beautifully and simply to portray the tears of one hustling without no joy of the fruits at the end.