The plight of our people

Is rapidly growing, day by day

The suffering and the anguish

Take control of their lives everyday

Should we forever suffer this way?

Will our anxiety ever cease!

Their voices ring loud and clear

But they are ignored and none would hear

Bombs and guns are part of their lives,

The terror of death lurks in every corner,

The number of the lost loved ones increases

And so are the silent tears and wails we hear

They watch and they wait,

They pray in the nights a silent prayer of hope

When their day is finally dawn

The fear of loss haunts them

Loss of more lives and loss of their mother land

Over and over again, their loss continues

As refugees! The fortunate ones live in foreign lands

Traumatized their world revolves around them

The pain unspeakable lingers in their souls

Fear and despair grasp their lives

Their concept of peace has become an irony still!

The plight of our people, still does exist,

Again and again they receive blows

When will they have the peace with justice they deserve?

When will their sorrows be turn into real joy?

When will the question marks become a real full stop?

I await to get the answer

I await to see it before the end of my life episode.

(Written by Gitanjali Thiagarajah.

Courtesy: Annual Magazine, Bishop’s College, Colombo. Gita is the daughter of the Rt. Rev. Dr. & Dr. Mrs. Thiagarajah.  )