Kashmir

We have a beautiful garden in our compound –

A heaven on Earth.

All through the year, plants and shrubs bloom,

Trees blossom, the ground is grassed over

And naturally sown with flowers,

Valleys sing our old classics,

Hills reveal the history of our heroism

And our temporal and spiritual leadership,

Mountain streams play sweet music

And sunlight dance on its water,

Waterfalls thunder to tell of our supremacy,

Cuckoo calls and breeze waits to cool our faces.

But ah, there are a lot many serpents of long-imported

Politics armed with hostility, threats and extremism,  

Slithering, hissing and coiling here and there

And we cannot walk in our own garden freely.   

Flowery banks and brooks vibrant,

Valley dales and woods different,

Winter’s sun and summer’s clouds,

Hills snowy and waters proud -

Beauty has been sung in songs,

Man thy beauty soars beyond,

        Nay, no life, no ties, nor a heart to throb!

Deadly is the sea; deadlier the sky;

Bad blood, self and shiftiness high.

Hope, help, health mourn and cry!

Ramesh Tiwari