The Law Against Survival Poem by Mohammed Arshad Amin

I have read too many dramas
each one amused me, except this one
the so-called international law,
so witty, hollow like a grand performance
that ends in tears.

I am the agenda of every conference table
spoken about never to
my name appears on papers,
my pain on slides,
but my voice is missing from the room.

they debate my life like a theory
measure my hunger in numbers and graphs
then applaud as cameras flash.

this doesn't anger me
I have outgrown anger
but I will say this
anything decided without me
is nothing about me
nothing but another photo session
in the theatre of humanity.

— Mohammed Arshad Amin