British Academy Fellow

By Papia Sengupta

Fire! Fire! Run, said the voice
But where? Where should we go?
It is the smell of burnt souls all around us
Not just dreams, aspirations, hopes and love

No, we do not have any place to go
Just a last flicker
That the fire will light the heart of those
Who use it to burn homes, forests, and hospitals

Illuminate the lives of all
I wish for such a fire within
For all my fellow-beings
A gleam, a flare to escape
this darkness of war, death, and violence

Still, I dream with hope
Of children's innocent laughter, not wails
Of blooming ferns, of love returned,
Of holding hands, of playing with clay,
Of eating together, of sharing that unbridled laughter
With the blaze called life without borders

Papia Sengupta is an academic, poet and artist who teaches at Jawaharlal Nehru University. . Her poems have been published in RIC Journal and Yugen Quest. Presently, she is a British Academy Fellow at the University of Sheffield.

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