Is ancient history not where one looks
in times of turmoil to reflect
and learn from past mistakes?
Doesn’t the carnage of the Japanese lives
serve as an ode to bid farewell to history?
Or a right example to be scribed here?
What use are the tales narrated
jotted down, passed on to us throughout
the history of mankind’s rivalries on earth, anymore?
From the pre-Islamic era when
clashes amongst various tribes
grew to extremes, to the British colonialism,
from the horrendous aftermath
Of the 9/11 catastrophe
that resulted in the stereotyping
of a whole population of Muslims
based on their religious faith.
Wait a minute, perhaps we could turn our heads
to the left, and glance towards Bangladesh
that was once a part of us, but sadly,
parted from us on not so good terms.
Alas! Maybe history has nothing left in it.
Nevertheless, we restlessly turn to it,
we cite the greatest men of ancient times;
the torch-bearers who laid the foundations
of Greek philosophy, without bidding adieu
to its profound knowledge,
as it’s deemed to be an epitome
and a turning point in the evolution
of human intellectual thought.
We carry on quoting ancient scholars,
reliving the gravest battles that were fought
throughout the east and the west,
from those erupting from shores
of the Ottoman Empire to the ones resulting
in the French/American revolution.
Even though history may be an embodiment
of suffering, its pages bleak
and full of human sacrifice,
wherein waging crusades of political nature
and holy wars undermine
the ruthless slaughter of innocents,
and epitomize the glittery crowns carried
from one emperor to another.
Leafs of history transmitted across time immemorial
are not mere pages but are pages
covered in crimson colour – of heart-wrenching tales.
Some tales consist of sacrifices,
and at the other end of its spectrum
are fables of power and victory.
The writer is a lawyer and social activist. She is an aspiring author who loves poetry and humour and tweets at @ammara_gul
Published in Daily Times, January 13th 2018.