Not Ours To Keep
written by: Mohammed Arshad Amin
None of us live alone
not even in exile
We wander, like leaves torn from branches
never solitary, always drifting
through a world that does not belong to us.
My mind is a river
choked with weeds of memory
clouded by the stories of too many others—
we all flow together
because none of us can survive alone.
Even the tree
its roots are buried in foreign soil
clings to its leaves
whispers carried by the wind
Without them, it would be stripped bare
forgotten, unnoticed.
Look at the sky—
empty without its stars
silent without the voices of the moon
a canvas of blue
without any color or meaning.
Storms come and go
tearing apart everything we try to hold on to
but in the end, the wind always dies down
and we find our way back to each other
our voices becoming a song again.
Love and hatred live side by side
changing shape
sometimes a helping hand
sometimes a closed fist
Too much love for ourselves alone
builds walls and starts wars—
this world was never ours to keep.
I need you
and you need me
Together, we can make something beautiful
out of what’s left
something more than our broken pieces.
My thoughts are not mine alone
They are yours too
When we are one,
we can clap together—
not in joy,
but in survival,
in hope,
in the chorus of the displaced.
- Not Ours To Keep - January 9, 2025
- A Yearning For Justice - February 22, 2024
