Prof Sanjukta’s searing poem on DifferentTruths.com exposes the visceral horror of war through a child’s devastating, final questions. 

Mama, they said “Target”
When they saw me,
What is a target, Mama
I ran and ran and ran
I reached home
I saw my friends
Crumpling and bleeding
As they fell on the road
As we stood in the food queue
 
Why are grownups so cruel, Mama
What have we done to them
What can we do to them
Why do they hate us so much
Are you listening, Mama?
 
Mama, Mama, Mama
Why don’t you speak
Mama, Mama
What is all this blood
Why is Papa lying so still
Mama, what has happened
Why don’t you speak, Mama
Are you sleeping?
 
Mama, Wake up
Mama, where will I
And my baby sister go?

Picture design by Anumita Roy

Dr Sanjukta Dasgupta

Dr Sanjukta Dasgupta is a poet, short story writer, critic, and translator. She was a General Council of Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, member and the Convenor English Advisory Board Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. She is the President of the Intercultural Poetry and Performance Library, Kolkata and has twenty-six published books. Her poems have been translated into German, Serbian, Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Kashmiri, and Tamil.