United We Stand

 I will sit in a chapel with stillness looming large

And take in the aroma of scented candles melting

Made by women of some foreign lands

And listen to the Hebrew chant of psalms

Soft as coils of silken thread

With its notes rising and falling in ancient tunes

Until my feet start singing perfectly in sync

Narrate to me and I’ll listen to your ancestral links

Of caravans in deserts blown away

Leaving behind the perfectly embroidered fabric

And tiny heirlooms in silk lined boxes

A traditional turban, a studded brooch

Tucked away in an embellished pouch

Tell me about your soldiers, your heroes

Who line the walls in black and white

 In frames of dry Rosewood and Mahogany

Take me to their graves, I’ll lay the wreath

Show me the paintings you’ve treasured since ages

With the sketching curious and strokes indefinable

Reveal to me your secrets in whispers

That can haunt me well for over a lifetime

Tell me about the mysteries that have never been solved

In a language, yet to the world, unknown

Tell me about your culture, your traditions

Customs buried deep under the dust of time

Labeled as ‘strange ones’ by the rest of the world

I’ll sit and listen for long

Till I’m sung a lullaby in verses unfathomable

And cover myself up in a patched quilt

Each piece contributed by a different nation

I’ll listen to the tales of your land and tell you about mine

So that your land becomes mine and my land yours

And we’ll join hands to form an endless chain

For, it’s unity that keeps us as one and makes us stand