United We Stand

Landslide to our right,

And the gorge to our left.

The fear of bombs in our head,

Through the glacier we navigate.

We have lost our way

Our homes blown away

The corpses of our children

Scattered far and wide!

The fear of death

Haunts us at this moment!

We have nowhere else to go

United we stand, our only hope.

We have no past!

The deeds of our days gone by

Cover our eyes in shame

We are beggars – that’s our cry.

The earth may be alive

The world may be dead

Who knows about us?

As we move from door to door.

Our numbers may be less,

But here we are alive.

Let us hold, hand in hand

A Hope for life, united we stand.

This is a translation of a poem ‘আয় আরো বেঁধে বেঁধে থাকি’ by poet Shankha Ghosh. He passed away this morning. This poem is relevant in the trying times the human civilisation is passing through. This is a small tribute to the great poet.