BIRDS
They caught us in their nets
shut us up in cages
sealed our beaks
clipped our wings
all for a good cause
the good of motherland!
In the dark a rumour
whispered in the breeze –
‘Now the night is ending
a new day is dawning
the liberator will come
he will break our cages
he will set us free
to sing and to soar
if we wish
if we wish.’
SHE
She was an
angel bright
with
multi-coloured wings
roaming at will
beneath the sun
The men in
black in white in saffron
could not
endure her freedom
huddled and
hatched dark plots
to shackle her
for good
They loaded
burdens on her shoulders
that bent her
double
tied her to a
grinding stone
going round and
round and round
she must look
down she must not rest
must never use
her head
she must not
think she must not dream
only do what
she’s told.
Then ah, she
heard a voice one day
the Voice of
Reason clear –
“Wake up! Rise up! You’re created
for life for
joy for love!”
Laughing she
stands, her burdens fall
she flaps her
wings to fly again.
ROSE GARDENS
He said “Come with me”
so, I bid goodbye
to the rose garden
blooming white pink and red
followed him to sandy land
where prickly plants grow
and no bird sings
Yearning for music
I hummed a tune
in a trembling voice
He smiled, held my hand
led me up a hillside
green with summer grass
set me down on a rock
coaxed me to sing
I opened my mouth
a song poured out
Eyes bright with delight
he pointed up the hill saying
“Let’s head for the top
there you will find
a rose garden
lovelier than the one
you left behind”
Thus, the trek began.
Malsawmi Jacob is a bi-lingual poet, writer and occasional
translator between Mizo language and English. She has published nine books in
different genres – 2 books of poems, 2 short stories, 2 children’s fiction, 2
narrative non-fiction and 1 novel. Her novel Zorami A redemption song is prescribed for post graduate course in two university campuses and widely used by research scholars. Malsawmi has
worked in different cities in the country: taught English to degree students in Aizawl and Bangalore, was coordinator with SPARROW (Sound and Picture Archives for Research on Women) in Mumbai, and
freelanced as a journalist with newspapers and magazines in Guwahati. She now
lives in Bangalore.
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