A cold bleak winter comes

Ruswa Fatehpuri

 

This is a cold bleak winter

And it will last for years to come

 

Grieve. Take time to grieve and heal

For you are right to feel this losing as a loss

And mourn, our country could not choose

A decent man who can’t be bought

 

This is a cold bleak winter

And it will last for years to come

 

Be kind. Kindness is our calling card

However hard the freezing wall of words

And in the chill of these self-centred times

Be the warmth that seeks the greater good

 

This is a cold bleak winter

And it will last for years to come

 

Smile. Smile because our comradeship is joy

No ploy of media or artifice, buffoon veneer

Should steal the gift that is your smile

Smile at the harried doctor, fatigued nurse

Smile and acknowledge at the least

The homeless huddled in the doorway

Smile for the delivery guy, paid by the parcel

Smile even for those who have betrayed

The rights for which their parents fought

The fight for freedom vainly sought

To be baptised in bigotry

 

Grieve, for those who lost their way

Be kind and say only that which heals

And smile to warm this cold bleak winter

That we may last until the spring can come

 

RJF2019

END

Something in a similar vein from Jack Monroe

Check out the Ruswa Fatehpuri chapbook