All Lemons are Tangerines
by Smita Kumari, India. Third place in the Writory International Poetry Contest, August 2025, scored 90 out of 100.
All lemons are tangerines, they said— What matters taste or time? Someone saw stars in the sky Others had rains within the house. "Why does the poor child cry?" asked the supreme. Heavens could not hear hunger. "Hasn’t he a mother?" Yes, but her breast is dry, and her bowl, a barren prayer. And who made the warrior so weak? His strength, bartered for policies, his courage taxed by silence. "What makes you great?" he asked. "My service, " came the reply— an echo wearing a suit. Another leader rose— a statue made of smoke and slogans. She closed her eyes and prayed. Her child cried, again. Tears like the rain—within the house. Because only in prayers did the lemon taste bittersweet. And hence All lemons tangerines.
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