The Arrival! Poem by Mehreen Tahir

They sit,
heads bowed,
silent in all their suffering.
Along comes a cry,
shattering the melancholy air,
with a new hope and joy,
that a new life brings,
the cry of a new life.
Marking his entry into this world,
his tribe,
he cries unabashedly,
screaming; he has arrived.
Alas, as time goes on,
his cries are silenced,
his presence, non-existent,
as he too becomes one of them,
sitting in the huddle,
head bowed low,
in shame,
waiting,
waiting for the arrival,
of a new life,
a new beginning!