Poems

SHAH JEHAN ASHRAFI

Shah Jehan Begum Ashrafi was born in U.P., India, and grew up in Mauritius. She studied English and French literature at the University of Mauritius. After completing her postgraduate degree in education at the Mauritius Institute of Education, she taught English, French, and literature in various secondary schools. She wrote several plays for the National Drama Festival in Mauritius. Her first published work is a study guide to Arthur Miller’s play ‘All My Sons’. Writing poetry is her passion, and she is also working on a novel and some short stories. She was on the editing panel of Rajeshwari Chauhan’s novel ‘Daniel’s Diary’. Now the author lives in Canada and wishes to take up other jobs and widen her experience and knowledge. Shah Jehan Ashrafi completed her Master’s degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Montreal.



Ode to Suffering

Let us speak for
Now silence is silvery
And speech is golden
No body should crush
Our self-respect
If stones and trees
Have to Speak
It’s only because
We have become heartless
Materialism has suffocated
Our spirituality
Humanity has turned blind
And dumb
We refuse
To say Enough is Enough!

©®Shah Jehan Ashrafi


Ceasefire

History, time and space
Have all seen humanity’s downfall
Bombs, wars
Power and helplessness
All scream
Ceasefire
In a hollow world,
Devoid of mercy and compassion
I was once a passionate poet.
I wrote about love stories.
My ink has suddenly dried.
I’m thirsty
Let me drink peaceful verses
And romantic stanzas.
I need peace.
Stop killing .

©® Shah Jehan Ashrafi



Blood-stained Toy

Boom!
That was not a balloon,
But a bombshell.
And a budding flower
Was killed in the melee.
What do I see here?
A blood-stained toy
In his tiny hand.
Was he out to play?
But wars are merciless;
They know only to kill,
Not to spare lives,
Not to play with toys

©® Shah Jehan Ashrafi


* Collected from the poetess by Md Ejaj Ahamed*