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By Dilruba Ahmed

This morning, a light
so full, so complete
we might ask why


the god of sun
is also god of plague,
why the god of healing


also god of archery.
The children under trees—
unaware their hearts


have become targets
red and inflamed
as the eyes of men in thrones—


find sticks in the grass
to fashion into guns. Some brandish
a branch-saber. They are sniping


the golden light
with squinting faces.
And everywhere


they do not look,
fences and more fences.
There are no arrows


to point the way
as they scythe
through a woods or dart


between cars in parking lots.
The miles of fence-links grow
more & more impassable


even as the children try
to follow the voices
calling them now, at first


with tenderness and then
with fierce intensity.


Source: Poetry (September 2019)

  • Activities
  • Living
  • Social Commentaries

Poet Bio

Dilruba Ahmed
A writer with roots in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Bangladesh, Ahmed earned BPhil and MAT degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and an MFA from Warren Wilson College. She has taught in Chatham University’s Low-Residency MFA program. See More By This Poet

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