Far From The Sky Poem by Goutam Chakraborty

Far From the sky
Goutam Chakraborty

(In memory of Syed Adil Hussain Shah, a pony handler at Baisaran valley near Pahelgaon)

When I die,
bury me in the sky—
no one is fighting over there in the name of religion.

Children are playing real soccer in the valley,
Not with empty bomb shells
(from the sky I can see their happy faces) .

A grandmother is baking
her Eid yakhni and mujaffar
(from the sky I can smell it) .

Teens are writing love letters again
under orange trees
(from the sky I can read them) .

Soldiers are not cocking new rifles
at the checkpoint
(from the sky I can hear the sound) .

Over there, love and the water of Leeder
are brewing in the kitchen
(from the sky I can feel it) .

When I die, bury me in the blue of the sky,
I said, for now, it is not the colour of envy—
no one hinders the freedom there and no one is claiming to.