Jhilmil Breckenridge
At dawn the muezzin calls the faithful
While naan makers knead dough
And women rush through their mornings
And men and children still dream
The faithful pray
In gleaming mosques of green and white
Genuflecting
In scenic, scented courtyards
And delivery boys hurl
Newspapers through laden pomegranate trees
Sleepy children rub their dreams away
Mothers helping them to smell a new day
As people line up to collect water
Naans are sold in yesterdays news
To men on cycles who stop and chat
While the sun rises over just another Kabul morning
And soldiers with Kalashnikovs patrol
Smoking, German Shepherds in tow
While the muezzin leads the faithful
Praying for deliverance and peace
And far away, the sound of a bomb
Nearby, a baby’s wails
A woman in an old rose chador sweeps
Billowing dust following a roaring tuck
And as the children don school uniforms
And mothers kiss upturned foreheads
The undulating seven o’clock siren sounds
And fathers return with the naans
Animated faces discuss the day
Over breakfast: naan and unsweetened tea
Families here like anywhere in the world
Congregating over a simple repast
And children leave for school
Women sweep, cook and clean
Men trade spices and cloth
While depraved soldiers attack and brutalise
The muezzin prays for peace
And people loiter at naan shops
The sun rises higher
Over just another morning in Kabul
Jhilmil Breckenridge is a poet, writer, and activist. Currently, she is a PhD researcher in Creative Writing at the University of Central Lancashire (UK). Jhilmil is the Founder of Bhor, a charity in New Delhi, which works in the field of mental health advocacy and using poetry as therapy. She is deeply passionate about issues of women, disability, and mental health. She tweets at @jhilmilspirit.
