Hunger

By Raja Chakraborty

a caged dove waits--
fluttering wings in captivity, 
waiting for another war 
to end
 
so it can fly to freedom 
 
cold, lonely, scared -- it pecks
the last grain, saved 
for uneasy days like these
 
peace is a crafty word--
it thinks, silently 
 
head hung low, in a sad
prayer, it longs for the blueness 
of an autumn sky
 
do birds cry? I don’t know
do they cry tears? I don’t know 
 
but what I know now is
war’s a game adults play
and peace, its abused cousin
 
there is a liquid fire
in the dove’s soft eyes speaking 
of a revolution that
only hunger can ignite

Raja Chakraborty is a bilingual poet, writing in English and Bengali. He has penned four books in English: The Soup Bowl and Other Poems, Whispers in the Wind, Broken Lines and Rainbows and About Maya and Other Poems. He is also a regular contributor to magazines and anthologies.

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