Kashmir

As the beautiful vale of Kashmir is yet again in flames, I am reminded of a poem by Agha Shahid Ali.

We shall meet again, in Srinagar,
by the gates of the Villa of Peace,
our hands blossoming into fists
till the soldiers return the keys
and disappear. Again we'll enter
our last world, the first that vanished

in our absence from the broken city.
We'll tear our shirts for tourniquets
and bind the open thorns, warm the ivy
into roses. Quick, by the pomegranate-
the bird will say-Humankind can bear
everything. No need to stop the ear

Let us hope peace prevails in Kashmir and Kashmiris hearts are won over by peace and not by guns.