Music

Once it came unbidden to the lips
Of slaves in storm-tossed Roman ships.
Half-remembered homes and lost worlds
Came back in stubborn songs and tunes
No lashes could silence.

It still lingers in harvesting fields
Where sorrow is a way of life
And youth is lost in stacks of wheat;
The barren earth only pays back
In tears and handful songs.

And why do the exiled have their songs?
Why does music flow through broken hearts?
As long as sorrows will persist
In this cold and uncaring world,
We’ll have songs in our hearts.

Diptesh Ghosh