NIDA ADMANI
Disaster Relief
Take only what you need, essentials, pack for a few days
Can I take this photo? Are my memories essential?
Or are they also forsaken along with my other possessions?
Everything dear to me, during a crisis loses importance.
Is this what it means to live without attachments?
Is this the reason why it’s always us?
Made to leave our homes behind,
Evacuated before every disaster,
No prior warning each time.
Is the rain so treacherous towards every family?
Why is no action ever taken to prevent a calamity?
Is it because we don’t complain, that it’s always us being taken away?
And the weather is more sympathetic to those who
Have more to take, more things to pack away?
This year a cyclone, last year a flash flood.
The only constant is uncertainty,
Same discrimination, same instability.
Same trouble falling asleep on an empty stomach.
Will my home still be here when I come back?
My mother always told me, make dua when it rains
Because that’s the time when the angels descend.
I pray for the health of my family and mine.
I pray for a blessed future, during a blessed time,
The smell of wet grass, the earth brought back to life.
The complimentary darkness in the afternoon sky,
To make up for the heat, sun tans and sweat stains.
Last week’s humidity condensed into rain –
The weather is at your service, the monsoon is here.
Only traffic is bad this time of the year.
Roads filled with water, all deliveries delayed,
Maybe I should just stay at home today?
At the mercy of the State, for the next few days or weeks or months.
Don’t forget to donate, the disaster relief charity is collecting funds.
Nida Admani is a researcher from Sri Lanka, working in the field of law and human rights and writing poetry to make sense of it. Her poems have appeared in Selcouth Station, Notdeer Mag, Groundviews, Shabd Aaweg and others.