Tick-tock, tick-tock;

Back and forth the pendulum rocks

Pounding each second into the ground

Now it’s here, now it’s gone.

Ominously, the cloud watches

as the gathering storm approaches

to merge with the dancing wisps of cottony-white

and turn the brightest day into darkest night.

Tick-tock, tick-tock;

The sound continues,cold and sedate,

matching the clang of the metal spade

as it comes in contact with the hardest rock.

Aisha pauses to wipe the sweat

that falls in droplets from her brow;

The littered battleground is a mute spectator

to the harshness of her sorrow.

One by one, she digs the graves

Three in number into their designated places;

Her tears have dried up much like the well of hope

As she rolls the bodies into the shallow spaces.

Once done, she dusts her hands and wipes the grime

from her face with the edge of her shawl;

She looks up at the sneering clouds with a passive stare

Saying, ‘I think it’s time to end it all.’

©Shailaja V

For Yeah Write #194