Death a daily occurrence in Kashmir (Image Danish Ismail/Reuters)

Did Anything Change?
Smiles of the heaven

Have the children of conflict.

Eyes full of dreams

Had the children of conflict?

Bliss of severance

On that eventful eid

Silenced by a death foretold

Remembrance makes the heart to bleed .

Like waves of frozen Dal

Rainin’ tears to bid farewell

He was brought to rest

Where the undying dwell

Day 50 today

Feels like day one

He clings to stones

You can hold that gun

He came in the hue

of the holy shroud

And the flower of passion

Made Kashmir proud

At lidder they vow by the waters edge

Standing side by side they took this pledge

The land of saints now breeds new heroes

A lane without name today has flowers and sedge

Listen to his name

With all your heart

And hear that song

Which your ears did not

Day 50 today

Feels like day one

Do all that you want

You’re back to square one

Grief is in a hurry

And pain passes by

Vanity too busy

Left to bewail n cry

In the valley of death

Where flowers don’t mourn

They took his dreams

with pellets they torn

That child can’t see, he sure can’t scribe

You’ve blinded him and he asks instead

In a knife-like tone he hoists his voice

Is he not big enough? To honor his dead.

Day 50 today

Feels like day one

Did anything change?

Excuse that pun

Poem by Mir Atif

Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights/WOT and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad.  She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.