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The stone-pelter's lullaby

Mou’ji, sing me a lullaby tonight
Too many faces made of white smoke
Smother me when I close my eyes
My dreams are on a leash, and
Olive green monsters stalk my breaths
Mou’ji, sing me a lullaby

Mou’ji, burn my clothes while I sleep
Too many friends have bled on the Shirt,
You brought for me when Eid last came
For when the demons come for me,
Let them never handle threads sanctified by blood
Mou’ji, burn my clothes while I sleep


Mou’ji, take away and bury my school books
My classroom is now a sandbag bunker
My fingers will trace words in the dark now
Every page full of the names of the dead
One by one, till I am one of them
Mou’ji, take away and bury my school books


Mou’ji, don’t cry when they bring me home
For even if there is no heaven, I refuse to be choked
My hands are scarred from the edges of stones
But iron chains are heavier still
Even when gilded with fool’s gold
Mou’ji, don’t cry when they bring me home











* Mou'ji - Kashmiri for mother
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