Death Fugue
Black drops of cold milk we drink at night
The planes pass by overhead dropping charged peanuts
In the mornings we comb through the splattered pieces
Children come pick the black and white kaffiyeh
Gone red your ommii and abii dear Sabah
Hasan blow out the candles the dark has eyes
The kippah come the kippah go
There is no fuel, there is no flour
Everybody is a smoky cloud above
Tread carefully the stranger’s bones are souvenirs
Someone runs away with water-bottles
Strays yelp in the sickness of healthy fires
Wiping the medical sweat the scrubs no longer flinch
At the washed away canvas of spines and molars
Gone red your ommii and abii dear Sabah
Hasan blow out the candles the dark has eyes
Queue here for poultice and sleep
It never comes like a secret from the sky
They all see you close your eyes if you can’t run
Grass cannot breathe under blown up concrete
Black drops of cold drink we save at night
The suits and the helmets wait for an ambush
Why the baby stopped crying inside my head
Jab deeper into the bowels for there lies our homes
Gone read your ommii and abii dear Sabah
Hasan blow out the candles the dark has eyes.
© Kaustabh Kashyap
