She cradled his body, embosomed in her arms,

The last beat of his heart thumped against her wounded chest,

His lifeless lips turned icy against her porcelain skin, when she realized,

She had lost the son that she loved best.

The ugly truth was to her, like an arrow through the heart,

She shed tears of woe, from the agony of it all,

“For how much longer do we wait for the dawn of peace in these lands?

Where once the meadows were lush and green, and melodious was the rooster’s morning call.

Yet, now, the saddened air is laced with the pungent scent of blood, sweat and tears,

I remember the masked men with the firearms, their unholy expressions hidden, with souls of malignant zest,

Their hard, unwavering, and vicious confidence, that feeds on mankind’s fears,

As hard as the bullet that plunged through my son’s chest.

Even the cheerful, evergreen mimosa shares my sorrow,

The jovial sunshine dissolves drop by drop,

The waters hesitate to approach the foreshore,

My slaughtered kin lie by me like harvested crop.

I ask the air, the sea and the sky,

Will there come a time when we mortals go hand-in-hand?

A day when our diversity will be the reason we stand united,

When our barriers are submerged below the land, upon which we stand.

I seek the hour when harmony smiles down upon our homes,

When the smell of sacrilegious blood no longer lingers in the air,

The moment when mankind enters a phase of righteousness and devotion,

And the souls of our martyrs sing us a prayer.

The dawn of peace in our homelands,

I yearn for it with all of my soul,

And for the emergence of tranquility on the rest of our planet,

From all the corners of the earth to the ends of the poles.

The hour when harmony dawns seems to be in the back of beyond,

But, that is just an illusion; it is only a stone’s throw away,

I realize now because the waves of the sea kissed and washed my bloodied sole as if to say ‘Hope still remains’,

And then they were back on their way.

I will wait for the day when the leaves weep no more,

And the sun gleefully shows off its dazzling beams,

And the birds hum a sweet song of peace,

And my mind rests at enduring ease.

I am determined to tolerate the pain, the blood and the tears,

Because I know the dawn of true peace is in the air,

I have confidence in my beliefs, and I shall fight for what is right,

I will lift up my white flag and show that I care.”

About The Poet

A student of Grade X (2018-19) from Delhi Private School, Sharjah.

She has a keen interest in learning new languages and is a voracious reader. She aims to change the perception of the global mass on universal values through her written word and thinks poetry is the best way to do so. She strongly believes nothing can dampen her love for language and literature.

Her poem, ‘Waiting for a New Dawn’, is the perception of a world of destruction, through the eyes of a grieving mother who perseveres to remain strong at heart, even though tears, provoked by the gruesome sights around her, cloud her vision.