Dreams are necessary
by
SHERIN MARY ZACHARIA
Paying a great deal for the resentment
To slumber, need to keep one’s eyes closed
Rolling left and right on a bed of tender feathers
Neither warm milk nor melody of flute could invite sleep.
Some texts define a ruler as a murderer
The warriors whose heads he cuts counts
Trail of an emperor’s throne is laid in red
Wailing cities are but sounding his triumph
Conquests; the only way to acquire someone’s dream
Crush it in tight fists, trample it beneath the feet
No war ever makes a hero
Raging fires leave only thick smoke
Dreams, desires much aspirations
Turn ashes in them, never known
They lived in Kiev, Kalinga, everywhere
Dreamt the happy faces of children
Wished their gardens would bloom
Pink and yellow each year; in full.
The tanks were rough on the snowy lawns
Leaving a grieving waste land.
Burning wind echoes the wails;
marching armies over dead promises
The emperor neither slept any night
Nor had any sweet dreams ever
The border hosted talks once more
The emissary’s horse flew eastwards
The gains futile, fails mankind when
Decisions decide to destroy peace
Into his heart remorse speared deep
A smile returned on the glorious visage
Fading the need to be served
But to serve is the need! got inscribed
Hostile plans all recalled
Brotherhood now reinstated
A real hero is born
No one can snatch a dream
Yet to take on its wings and glide free
Against the rudeness of ideas
Which are never of one’s choice or wish
Ecstatic and secret dance of the mind
When peace holds its hand amidst a festive crowd
A waning moon, of greed
Comfort of sleep
Leaves the emperor dreaming
The good days of the world
The baby slept in the cradle
Her mother’s arm awake, rocking
The camp was not of silent losers
Dreams waited to enter her star like eyes
Flying angels, colours and flowers
Her mother shudders as if a missile dazed past them
Nightmares won’t give way for white doves so soon
The milky smile but assured
A dream of hope and love
For the times spent in desperation
War is not necessary
But dreams are;
They simply float in
Need no permission
Just some space for hearts to hold together.
published in the Yercaud poetry festival 2022 by Soul Scribers Society Salem