April 1919
On 13th April 1919, a coalition of Indian rebels assembled in Jalianwala Bagh for a peaceful protest. British army fired bullets at the unarmed crowd, killing 1,000 people. That day, people also celebrated Baisakh - a Sikh harvest festival.
slender hope peeled from Amritsar’s spine
laid as tripwire on the field
leading farmers to their harvest
in promise of eternal unity to the soil,
honey blades of sunlight
drenched in white man’s burden
doused the marigolds in hues of yellow
extracted from bile sacs
spilling over the garden in most beautiful golden
and so the English glory whittled
from the birch tree,
decorated the landscape for Baisakhi.
Bhavika Malik is a high school sophomore from Salt Lake City. She usually writes social and political commentary. Her work has appeared in Kalopsia Lit, Wear Your Voice, Missing Perspectives, and more. When she isn't writing she's procrastinating over school work.
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