The Black Silk Route, a poem by Ranjana Sharan Sinha

tons of skinny children

swarming out of mudhouses

and running behind our blue car

giggling and shouting

in specks of dust!

He hardly knew then

that he was a child

created without a destiny!

Unfolding of years

made him struggle hard:

Too little food,

Long hours of work!

Poverty like a woodpecker

hammered into the

tender tree of his body:

Disadvantaged and

out-of-school the boy

suffered timeless traumas!

Sick and sorrowful

he was a drawning self–

Arms flailing!

Water splashing!

Many times he spoke

with God and prayed desperately,

but his prayers went unanswered!

Then with ascending hands

he looked at the skies–

The clouds were changing colours

like a furious warty chameleon:

White, grey, blue-grey, black–

Yes, black and dark masses

racing and roiling!

He wished to grab the

freedom and power–

Cyclopean and relentless!

An avalanche

of anguish and anger,

A giant stride

from the known to the unknown,

A metamorphosis

that transformed

Beige into Black!

DR. RANJANA SHARAN SINHA is a professor of English by profession and a poet by passion, Dr. Ranjana Sharan Sinha is a well-known voice in Indian poetry in English.She is an author and a critic,too. Her poems have been included in the university syllabus prescribed for M.A.(English) 4 semester.Poems, fictions and research papers published at national and international levels in highly acclaimed dailies, magazines,e-zines,archives and journals both in print and online.Received a number of awards for her contribution to literature from recognized institutions and publishing houses.She has the privilege of receiving accolade from the former President of lndia, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for her poem ‘Mother Nature’. Authored and published 07 books in different genres and 50 research papers. The books are:1.Spring Zone (A collection of Poems and Haiku)2. Midnight Sun (A Collection of short stories) 3. Nature in the Poetry of William Wordsworth and Sumitra Nandan Pant  (Criticism)4. Feminism:Times and Tides (A historiographical and theoretical commentary on feminism)5. Different Dimensions (A compilation of research papers)6.Scents and Shadows( A collection of 70 poems)7. Rhymes for Children.Presented papers in a number of national and international conferences and seminars.Associated with many literary associations and global poetry groups. Research supervisor RTM Nagpur University, Nagpur. Lives in Nagpur, India.

---

Jamie Dedes:

• About /Testimonials / Disclosure / Facebook / Medium / Ko-fi
• 2020 Poet Laureate of Womawords Literary Press
• The Wombwell Rainbow interviews Jamie Dedes

Your donation HERE helps to fund the ongoing mission of The Poet by Day in support of poets and writers, freedom of artistic expression, and human rights.

Poetry rocks the world!

---

---

FEEL THE BERN

For Peace, Sustainability, Social Justice

The Poet by Day officially endorses Bernie Sanders for President.

The New New Deal

“Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Bernie Sanders

---

---

“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.”  Lucille Clifton