poem submission by Vera Dike

[vera chukwu]

Dahárví


The smelting furnace
of human destiny-Dahárví
the nightmare within a dream


Here aren't radiant colours
of wrappers and sarees
neither aroma ofclove
cinnamon, saphron and curry

Here is the necropolis of hopes
with its architecture

Stones and planks 
tied with the ropes
or with the wires

Tiny shelters built of a carboard
sometimes crowned 
with a metal roof
posses such treassures
as a sworn aluminium pots
or a mattress

The starvation 
and the desperation

as a vultures
are feasting
on the carcass
of achildhood dreams
about future
books, pencils
chalks and blackboards