Rajashree’s poem dwells on a haunting reflection on lost innocence, fading love, and the devastating cost of ambition, power, and conflict in modern times, for Different Truths.

Ambition and power have their own stories 
Unlike the story of the unknown savage wind.
 
The smoke, invading the sky  
Has wiped away the smile from the innocent lives.
 
The sound of the laughter 
Drags them to the burial ground 
where cries for a life are rampant.
 
Love is now a midday dream. 
As the streets with the moonlight 
Steal the darkness of midnight.

Picture design: Anumita Roy

Rajashree Mohapatra

Rajashree Mohapatra, born in Odisha, has received her master’s degree in 'History', and 'Journalism and Mass Communications' from Utkal University. She is a teacher by profession. Being a postgraduate in 'Environmental Education and Industrial Waste Management' from Sambalpur University, she has devoted herself as a social activist to the cause of social justice, environmental issues, and human rights in remote areas through non-governmental organisations. Poetry, painting, and journalism are her passions.

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