In Times of War
By Yukti Narang
In times of war
ravens ring around
a bird speaks of misery
doesn’t say it in full words
but flies in miserable circles
misled, harshly misunderstood,
in times of war
The empire’s line, it moves,
with the bird in circulation
true, in all disdain,
waits for its sand to settle
before it grows, fruit,
dried turnips, flowers, grasslands
in times of war
And the crows drink from wells,
where humans once were,
the humans slurp a drink
from the crows’ ponds
the hues of the water
goes murky, sour,
in times of war
In times exceeding a peripheral dawn
camels, goats, sheep, horses
move in slow strengths
toil becomes a fiend of the foot
also, opportunity, chance
revival, perhaps truly,
in times of war
The cinders grow, in hiding,
leap after the silence of the nights
same in tents and tattered hooves
palaces, and packed lots,
spread, lay their covers,
in times of war
The skies mature
can turn and grow
their colors crack
their years come and go
tawny, then fresh,
in their forte, even fortune,
in times of war
the sand remembers
its tricks and treasures
replicates the layers of work
reminds one in silence
to evoke the fluke of the end
the cursed endeavor, gross,
wish to unsee these,
these times of war.
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Yukti Narang is a variegated creative writer, poet and performing artist who finds magic in tales, music, art and characters as an avid reader and cinephile, loves creating characters out of thin air, and making stories out of narratives simple and bizarre. Writing culturally rich stories with fascinating twists from history, mythology, and beyond are the works of her art. She wishes to become a versatile storyteller in all her chosen formats. She is in the process of getting her first novel published traditionally, and has multiple pieces of poetry and short fiction sent to anthologies and magazines internationally. Yukti creates screenplays and theatre plays, and is working towards the literary world and cinema. She is the sanctioned writer of two art galleries in India.