The Long Walk to Freedom

Are we chasing a mirage
Or there is actually an oasis?
Is this the promised morning?
Are better days yet to come?
The dawn that we were awaiting
Has brought us no light
The sun has remained eclipsed
And clouds hanging overhead
Hold no promise of succour
The land remains parched
And the seeds of future rotting
No streak of rainbow above
The horizon a monochrome
There is only wilderness for road
There is only bitterness for company
And the walk is long and arduous
Fraught with highway robbers
Is there another way home?
Is there a safe passage?
My home is a distant dream!
My home is a distant dream!
Awake me when we reach,
Home sweet home!

Shafaat Shahbandari is a Bangalore-based storyteller, journalist and poet who recently launched a digital media-based documentary platform called ‘Thousand Shades of India‘.

Featured image credit: Daniele Buso/Unsplash