Wild Laughter Poem by Mohabeer Beeharry

Strident laughter of guns in the dark
Lit a sinister bonfire in the night
As behind restless screens of flying dusts
The stars hid their faces.

Tucked behind a shattered wall
Reeking of wet blood and bullets,
My eyes itched.

Across a pall of ugly darkness,
An area of bombarded stones,
Once a busy road,

A thriving market place
That rang with children's frolicsome laughter
And women's haggling,

Behind that smallish mound
There was a clatter of gunfire
And a shaded figure fell.

Was he dead?
Was he bleeding?
He groaned.
He moved.

And then,
There was a quiet,
Devastating
Eerie and cold.

Dry as a barren rock
My stomach heaved,
Hollow with fear.

Life has become a desperate animal
On the run,
To be torn apart,
At the mercy of heartless maulers.

As light finally dawned,
Above the knoll of stones,
My eyes rested
On the cold hand of that man
Pointing towards the heavens.

In a rage of despair
I laughed,
I cried
And I screeched.

Sometimes they say
Even love spawns scorpions.

If this is what life is all about,
Like a grounded lion
Hemmed round with a ring of ruthless fire,

Then glory lies
In facing the fire.