Community?

 

I was one among the thousand
Men and women in my village;
A tiny group of humans, a small
branch amidst the world’s foliage.

Our habits and our lives were twined-
Strangers called us a ‘community,’
But we knew better than that,
We were closer than a family.

Hand-in-hand, side-by-side,
We stood by each other-
If a fist clenched in silent pain,
The village would be in it together.

I was brimmed with pride-
Our strong solidarity
Only grew stronger each time
In any adversity –

Until a dark storm whirled in from the abyss-
The ghastly pit of human evil,
Blew away lives and hearts
And many were bewitched by the Devil.

Most folded their hands to protect themselves-
Eventually, so did the rest.
I only observed with empty palms
As they tried to do what they thought was best.

The branch thinned down to a twig,
When people forgot their deeper roots.
The tiny group became smaller, it
had become something none could refute.

And I for one had stood still
Throughout the unforeseen,
My mind wanted to give in-
But I had already died within.

The storm from Hell had caused destruction-
Maybe the storm was inside them
And our family made no sense,
It was evident something had changed-
The great community had lost its eminence.

PS: I wrote this poem for another event, thought it was good to be published on the blog (it had been inactive for so long, after all) 😉

~Mustafa