Do you remember us?
You see this dry barren home,
nothing but browned river bed, but rotten roots, but hip bones of nameless women
Crusted relics of the evaporated futures, abused, drip dried, colonized.
...
As I laid in my deathbed head to my pillow,
Darling death and I did not rest in peace.
While my last breath blew, my knees could bend,
These hips slap could daaaaance… agaaaaain!
...
Aditiya Raj is a poet and writer from Mumbai, India. She has been writing poetry since childhood and has developed a deep love for the art form over the years. Her poems are often introspective and deal with themes of love, loss, and self-discovery. Aditiya began sharing her poetry online through social media platforms like Instagram and Tumblr. Her writing quickly gained a following, and she soon became known for her ability to express complex emotions with simple yet poignant language. In addition to her poetry, Aditiya is also a writer and editor for various online publications. She has written on topics ranging from mental health to pop culture, and her work has been featured in a number of online magazines and blogs. Despite her success as a writer, Aditiya remains committed to her love for poetry. She believes that the art form has a unique ability to connect people and to convey emotions in a way that other forms of writing cannot. Today, Aditiya continues to write and share her poetry with the world, inspiring others to explore the power of words and the beauty of self-expression.)
Drip Dried
Do you remember us?
You see this dry barren home,
nothing but browned river bed, but rotten roots, but hip bones of nameless women
Crusted relics of the evaporated futures, abused, drip dried, colonized.
Put your ear the the earth
hear my ancestral waters trickle
You are not safe in
Jhulelal Sindhi Mother of Water
revengeful riptide.
Don't you remember us?
Water will cycle
I, Jhulelal will spill rain…
Droplets will whisper down your white cheek,
Listen to her run off, our soils cries,
before our blood precipitated and you soaked up her spices
Water holds memory
I, Jhulelal will send a rushing river
stream sindhi stories back into white watered down textbooks
Flood the halls of your textile factories
foundations built on aunties backbone
Watch as I water board your treaties, your broken promises, your partition
Don't you remember us! No?
I, Jhulelal will send tsunamis
For water is the lifeblood of the land,
You, who claim it as their own,
Decimating our earthly home
This is your indigenous education!
From standing rock to the ganges
You cannot outrun this wave
Of grief, of passion and pain
You throat will sting on my salt waters,
choke on tears
Of dakota, Maori, aboriginal mothers
Your lungs will fill with oil, with coal, with fossil fuel
Your limbs will twist and turn in the Rapa Nui riptide
I, Jhulelal will command the
Moon to never return the tide until
Until you drown in our names