Questions of an Innocent Mind

Bilquis Fatima posted under Guest Posts Poetry on 2019-08-16



You said the seamless sky was mine
And from all the glittering stars, I could have a handful too,
To hang them on my balcony when I grew.
You told the pristine streams would always sing to me 
When I dipped my feet in childish glee 
You said I could climb the majestic mountains 
For  they were owned by none and accessible for all. 
You showed me the vibrant poppy fields    
And told, one day, through them I could run free.
You showed me the verdant forest 
With  mixed fragrance wafting from  the silken trees.
And told me I could  walk through them fearlessly  
You promised that  the whole world was mine
And  everyone in it was dear to me, so 
No one would take  away what God had gifted me.

But  why can’t I now, see the stars which you had promised ?
They say man’s progress has shrouded them beneath clouds murky
Why can’t I climb those familiar mountains today ?
They say it is included in someone else’s territory  
Why  can’t I fly across a part of the sky 
They say it would be trespassing other's airspace
I can’t dip my feet in that  river which used to flow beneath my feet,   
They say it would be a breach of some treaty 
They tell me not to step in the beckoning poppy fields 
As their roots have deadly mines underneath,
And forests now have shooting foliage which kill many. 
Oh Daddy, this was not the world you showed to me!
Lofty walls have grown between the lands, the sky and the sea.
Grown by men in power or rich in penny.
Weren’t  they for all, weren’t they for you and me ?  
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