Flowers -of- an -hour
by Tasneem Hossain, Bangladesh
Salima sits on the rubbles,
looks around in terror.
Is this the world they have read in books?
Birds flying in the vast blue sky,
butterflies flying from flower to flower;
bees sucking honey, children running to overpower,
amidst the green carpets of valleys, daffodils dancing
or the Faqqua iris, black eyed susan vine;
Children playing in the field laughing and jumping;
parents picnicking with children near the sea beach,
swimmers in the blue waters in the lakes;
mountains high with green rocks and trees?
Bombing planes fill the sky.
Vultures flying for preys;
soldiers rushing with rifles and guns,
bayonnets gashing the passers by.
Death and destruction all around.
Crying, wailing dying in pain.
People looking for family members,
screaming and calling their names.
Helmetted soldiesr push half naked men in the trucks,
children cry and run to save their fathers and mothers.
The printed rosy dress beneath the boulder-
Is it her mother’s broken shoulder?
Oh! and there lies a broken doll
with arms and limbs severed,
just like the broken doll she had.
But no, it looks like her baby brother,
except without legs or arms;
scatterred on the ground near.
She cannot think more.
All look hazy red and grey.
Her bandaged hands need to heal,
yet hospitals are scarce, medication not in sight.
Tears have dried. She cannot cry,
starvation has no energy to feed.
Whirring,whooshing sound above.
Flying vultures throw down a gallaxy of stars.
She gives a sigh of relief.
It’s better to die than live.
Now she is a human rubble on the field.
Millions of flowers- of -an hour, buried deep.
killed!
Brief Bio of Tasneem Hossain:
Tasneem Hossain, majoring in English Language and Literature, is a multi-lingual poet from
Bangladesh. She writes poems in English, Urdu and Bengali. She is also a columnist, fiction and op-ed writer, educator, translator and trainer.
Her poems have been translated in 11 languages; and published in literary journals worldwide. She has been interviewed on several literary platforms and won awards for her literary contributions to world literature.
Several of her articles and poems are utilised as teaching material in universities and academies across various countries; some have been referenced in university research papers.
She is an author of three poetry books: ‘Grass in Green’ – available in 30 countries, ’The Pearl Necklace,’ ‘Floating Feathers’ and a book of articles ‘Split and Splice’. Four more books are currently in progress.
As an op-ed writer, she has written more than 130 articles.
She runs an international poetry writing project and group, named Life in Lyrics. She wants to create bridges of communication for literary people around the world through this platform. She conducts workshops here to create readers and create interest for reading and writing for the younger generation. She is a member of World Writers’ Union and recognized as World’s Contemporary Writers 2024 in a couple of anthologies.
