Shattered Bonds Poem by Sanjib Saha

Shattered Bonds

A faded group photo, a staircase filled
with three generations, thirty faces.
All eyes gaze forward, a testament
to times past.

Thakurdada and Thakurma sit atop,
five aunts cradle children, youthful
energy abounds. My mother, pregnant
with me, sits beside Father.

Time swept away the original thirty,
leaving none. Earth-shaking events
erased rice fields' scents. The veranda
where I took first steps, the stairs,
all gone. Generational bonds fractured.

Thakurdada's steadfast gaze, Thakurma's
prayer beads, and Imran Ali's sturdy
lathi - symbols of resilience -
couldn't withstand Partition's fury.

Now, I'm in the group photo, Mother
and Father gone. Shattered dreams,
scattered lives, and fading memories.

------- Sanjib Saha