I’m breathing/not-breathing again
Into our wires seeps the mark of Cain
Even though I’ve seen this before,
The fury, the bodies on the floor
The fist and the flick of flame
Leaching colour then jumping the frame.
I’m still lung sore, knuckles stiff,
Flooding with what-about and what-if;
This is the age of rage, where Youth is cast
Ruined into fjords, with skylines glassed
And well-reasoned loosing of the feral free
While we sit like a skein of sinew coiled to flee.
But I’m holding, lock jawed, asking for counsel
How long, Saqi, before I bang the Earth’s shell?
By Ali. A.Naqvi
Notes:
This was in response to my friend, Yasmeen Fatima, and comment “anyone else holding their breath?” when the Norwegian killer Brievik was on his rampage as initially people were assuming it was Islam related. This struck me a constant condition for most people these days. The events in London have added to this tension.
The last two lines are based on Psalm 13:2 which I came across when meditating on this and also Al Quran Surah 99:3 which is also referred to as Al Zalzalah (The Earthquake).
