Unsung Lullaby

Blog source: http://sesapzai.wordpress.com/2014/12/26/unsung-lullaby/

I died the day you died, zaRgiya*
I died and buried you into the deepest crevices of my once-beating heart
It was only yesternight when you asked me,
“Morr jaaney**, will you sing me a lullaby one more time?”
I never sang you your last lullaby, my love
I should have stayed longer
Sung longer
Loved longer
I should have cradled you in my arms,
And told you stories well into the early morn
I sensed our doom
It tried to grab me by the neck
And suffocate me
So that I could not breathe
I sensed you digging your fingernails into my flesh
As loathing loomed over us
And made the shadows cower in fear
I felt my flesh tear and burn
With each scream, with each whimper
Creating scars all over my shattered body
I could not reach you,
You were too far away
Trapped in another dimension
I saw them come for you
Like venomous serpents
Poisoning and destroying everything,
That was once sweet and pure
I should have been there when they came
And held you tightly against my bosom
As they cried “Allahu Akbar!”
And snatched you away from me
“They were your people,” I was told
My people killing my people
Over and over and over again
Cracked lips,
Tear-stricken,
Kohl mixed with blood
I bury my face into the wet earth
Breathing; only breathing,
And eternally whisper your name
Like an unheard prayer,
Like the last lullaby I never sang to you,
For, today, I died with you

© SesapZai 2014

*ZaRgiya (emphasis on the ‘r’) means “sweetheart” or “dearest one” in the Pashto Language
**Dear mother