Hidden Slaves

• Arfa Waleed Kokab, Grade 7, Al Noori Muslim School - Senior Campus
• Poetry
• 2022

Finalist in the 'National Treasures 2022' competition

Where the echoes of shrill cries remind of ceaseless ache,
and where the macabre cracking of whips put desperate lives at stake,
they’re hidden.
Where grit works its way deeper into flesh, and where muscles wildly cramp,
where bitter morals play with hope, where no one takes a stance,
they’re hidden.
Where resplendent gold and silver shimmer with the cold light of the moon,
where there’s no one to soothe those silent sobs though they’re all commune,
they’re hidden.
Where are they...?
They’re hidden... in plain sight:
a place called everywhere.