My Little Singing Bird

January 25, 2019

 

My little singing bird
Wherever I go I carry it within me
Or rather it sits fluttering in my being

As I sit down at my desk to dream away
It takes me above the valleys of Anatolia
Orange groves Strawberry fields and vineyards

Sometimes it brings me a little feather, A chestnut,
or a river with songs of the olden days
Other times it fetches me
timeless scent of blooming Damask roses
fragrance of jasmine white dreams in a creeper
smell of raindrops dancing in the naked earth…

where is your singing bird I asked everyone
They cackled and looked at me with concern
In a ring of alarm flew away to join the rat-race

In the cherry colour horizon of a faraway desert
Little singing birds unfed and famished to death

 

Shameela

Shameela Yoosuf Ali, Editor-In-Chief of FemAsia, is a PhD researcher in Media & Cultural Studies. She's a Bilingual Writer, and Poet. Residing in England, her heart echoes with boundless nostalgia for the cherished memories of her homeland, Sri Lanka.

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