Girl, Running
Must you still run,
With seasons far behind,
Ahead of the sands of time;
Where will you run to,
If towards Lethe
No mortal feet may carry?
Tattered soul in casket dull
Undone in the day,
Tormented in the night,
Bearing none of the joy
Once believed would suffice
In baring all.
No promises held
By the furthest horizon
Nor the deepest ravines,
Where will you run to,
If stories old
No mortal man may free?
Girl, running
Blistered soles in mended shoes,
No freedom in distance drawn;
Among wild roses nowhere,
The twinkling stars collide
And blue skies fall,
I see you smiling
Like ribbons in the air
Trailing softly in the wind;
“Girl, running
Is fading; where distorted voices
Are vanquished and subdued.”
In the dying day,
Your smile fades away-
Still, we must find our way.
Now we run, together
In raised spirits; high
On our distance covered:
In our cloud-dipped heels,
Dancing wild, we are now
Girls, running.
Author’s Note:
With the rise of COVID-19 in India, many returned to their native places for safety and survival. Those who previously chose exile from their community in order to escape past-misdeeds and the rigidity imposed by social systems, have been forced to face their past once more. This is a poem letting them know that they won’t have to battle alone.
