VALSA GEORGE

 

Martyred For Freedom

 

What crime did Masha do to brutally beat her to death?

Rapists, rogues, and robbers roam scot-free.

But Masha was callously put to death!

This woman wished everyone to walk in dignity.

She saw her sisters bound with crude fetters.

Her spirit rebelled against all man-made manacles,

That bound not their hands and legs, but mind and body,

While they longed to dance with abandon.

 

This pretty girl of Iran had brains to think.

She knew the many restrictions imposed,

Would strangle and cripple the fair sex.

Her rebellious mind revolted,

When women had to cover their heads with hijab,

And wrap themselves in several folds of linen.

She saw in their faces, the grimaces of tormented fear.

 

Allegedly she was arrested for violating Iran’s ‘modesty code.’

The fanatics thought that with her death,

The clamour for freedom would die down.

But it got blazed fierce and now thousands join,

Pledging their solidarity to Masha, drawing inspiration from her.

Again, their shrieks for freedom cannot be stifled or silenced.

In cloistered darkness, they wait, hoping for a bright sunrise.

They hope to see the rise of a girl child,

From the abyss of an extinguished millennial flame!

 

A Bird That Cannot Fly

 

Confined within the rusty iron bars,

Grounded eternally to hop and trip,

Wishing to fly into Heaven’s starry bower,

A bird beats her wings in vain,

Voicing her anguish in tremulous trills.

 

There is hunger at every tip of her feather,

To fly and flutter through the pathless air,

Piping melodious tunes to drown the earth,

Seeing lands never eyed by anyone before

 

Nursing her dreams, she beats her wings again,

To reach a place where the soul sings.

Alas! The clamour of her beating resounds,

And she falls asleep exhausted!

 

In her sleep, her desires limp back,

She dreams of shooting into higher altitudes.

Becoming a speck among fleecy clouds.

But she knows the sky that stretches limitless,

Is a premise far beyond her reach.

 

As she sees birds in flock flying away

To seamless ends sculpting sweet images,

In her vision, she beats her wings again,

To feel tired and feeling tired to fall asleep,

And in sleep to dream again of soaring free!

 

When Shall We Soar To Freedom

 

Thud of military boots over cobbled streets,

Thundering symphony of enemy tanks,

Deadening sound of gun shots,

Hearts frozen numb through fears,

Packs of wolves springing on innocents,

Bodies mangled by terrorist shells,

Snuffing out the dreams of children

Pushing elders to live in eternal horror.

Life, threatened by night curfews,

Freedom of expression, banned,

Life, steeped in darkness and bound by manacles!

 

Here, we are like insects trapped and stuck in a spider web,

By a hungry arachnid, helplessly awaiting our fate.

Shackles cripple us, we are eternally trapped.

Before darkness closes in, let us strive hard for peace.

We need a new world, where we can live free,

And unchain the gates setting free our captive spirits.

 

How we dream of a time with no hatred or war

But peace, love, and freedom for all.

Where men of all caste and creed live in harmony

Breathing free air and having the freedom to walk and talk.

To be like birds, to spread our wings and ride upon the wind,

Ride to seamless heights of joy and Freedom! 

VALSA GEORGE

VALSA GEORGE is a retired professor from Kerala. After her successful career as a teacher, she took to poetry. She writes on a wide spectrum of topics spanning Nature, Love, Human relations et al. She has authored over 1500 poems in varied poetic forms which she regularly posts in international poetry websites, reputed journals, and literary publications. She has four anthologies in her name - Beats, Drop of a Feather, Rainbow Hues, and Entwining Shadows - the latter two available on Amazon.com. One of her poems ‘A space Odyssey’ has been included in the CBSE syllabus (Rain Tree Course Book by Orient Black Swan) for the 8th grade students in India from the year 2018. Another poem ‘My Fractured Identity’ is prescribed for the undergraduate students (Voyagers) in Philippines