The political turmoil in Afghanistan, fear, deaths, and exodus, is voiced in this poem, by Sunil, exclusively for Different Truths. 

The elected left. System collapsed. There
is smoke outside
 
the palace but the air inside is pure. Trees
are daily pruned by the staff for the new king. And power
 
parleys are on.
 
Here, in the bleak country where the
poor and elite are imbalanced, as always,
for centuries, democracy or monarchy.
 
Folks flee.
There is gun fire around the squares
and streets, signaling change.
 
Exodus!
Death stalks.
Something is
broken inside everyone
but
there is absence of popular rage
in these walking ghosts.
 
Homes abandoned, cries –not laughter – heard.
Somebody asking for the sun in
this night that recurs often – long, dreary and dull.
 
They are asking for a miracle
in God-forsaken world
 
where the common citizen is the
first casualty; ironically,
everything done in their name.

Visual by Different Truths

Dr. Sunil Sharma

A humble word-worshipper: catcher of elusive sounds, meanings and images. Published 27 creative and critical books--- joint and solo. A winner of, among others, the Panorama Golden Globe Award-2023, and, Nissim Award for Excellence-2022 for the novel Minotaur. His poems were included in the prestigious UN project: Happiness: The Delight-Tree: An Anthology of Contemporary International Poetry, 2015. Editor of the monthly Setu journal (English):

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