Poem - Homeless, Poet - Shahid Abbas

 

Homeless

Shahid Abbas 

We are homeless

No shelter beneath the naked sky.

Our army is weak,

Defending the indefensible.

We are sick.

Elders worry,

Children scurry,

Widows cry alone

And still, we survive.

The fields lie fallow in the cold.

We feel alone,

No welfare state,

No bon vivant leaders to ease our load

Only silence,

Only stone.

We are homeless

Thrown from our abode,

Torn from our refuge,

Our very name

Lost in the smoke.

We go to pieces

As our children go to seed.

Animals scrounge,

Birds die mid-flight

And yet, wasn’t it we

Who laid the ground for this extinction?

We are homeless.

We are hopeless.

But not forgetful.

We will remember

The jesters, the jokers,

Who danced in our fire

And laughed as they watched us burn.

Yes

People are shameless.

We are homeless.

But never blind.

Never silent.

Never gone.

About the Poet:

Shahid Abbas is a multi-award-winning international author and poet from Kirapla 421GB, Tandlianwala, Faisalabad, Pakistan. He is the author of Words from Nature and co-author of We Speak in Syllables. Shahid is currently working on a collaborative poetry book titled Verses of Meraki, soon to be published. His work has been featured in numerous international anthologies and on diverse literary platforms, both in print and online. His poems have been translated into more than ten languages.

Shahid serves as the Director of Culture in Pakistan for the State of Birland, where he promotes literature and the arts. He is also the National Coordinator for The Dream of Equality, Pakistan. Additionally, the Camara Internacional de Escritores y Artistas (CIESART), based in Spain, has appointed him as President of CIESART Pakistan Headquarters and CIESART Ambassador for Pakistan.

He will soon co-host Haiku TV (USA) alongside Sir Michael Bee. Shahid has received several international awards and recognitions and has represented Pakistan in numerous global literary festivals, advocating for world peace and cross-cultural literary exchange. His contributions have been acknowledged in countries including India, Portugal, Mexico, the United States, and Colombia.

Shahid is also an Amazon bestselling author, with his work featured in several bestselling international anthologies—most notably Peace is Within Us, published by the How to Write for Success Literary Network in Trinidad and Tobago.

His acclaimed book Words from Nature, published .Captures the essence of life, love, and nature, and includes a number of spiritually rich haiku celebrating the Divine's beauty. Shahid recommends the book to all lovers of poetry and literature. It is available on Amazon worldwide.