POEM 3

Do not speak to me….

Do not speak to me of falling towers 
Not of terrorists, 
Not of nine-elevens and Taj attacks
Do not speak to me of Satyam scams 
Do not speak to me of Mangalore pub assaults
Of rapes and murders and accidents 
Of Hindus and Muslims and pompous clerics all
Of conferences where men sit in state 
And women wilt in the wings
Do not garnish my world with these ugly things…..

For right where you are 
There is the hungry child you waved away
There is the young widow you wouldn’t employ
There is the drunkard who broke his wife’s back
There is the unemployed youth who stole your helmet
There’s the refuse in the drain, and the child cleaner 
There’s the man who sold his kidney
And the doctor who bought it
There’s the woman whose baby wouldn’t grow
For she nothing to eat and nothing for him
There’s the bin full of flies, the scabious dog, 
And the pond choked with dirt……


Do not speak to me of MNC’s
Do not speak to me of hep yuppies
Do not speak to me of night shifts and foreign trips
Of the melting glaciers do not speak
Sitting in high glass rooms in the IHC
And do not speak of the children of Gaza
Of the tribals who did not return to Kandhamal 
Do not speak…
Of conferences where men sit in state
And women wilt in the wings
Do not garnish my world with these ugly things

 
Let us talk of the night
And the fragrance of wet earth
Let us speak of the call of the jackal
And the cry of the kite
Let us speak of the moonlight
Cool as mint from the moon
And the world silver white
Let us speak of the meeting of eyes 
When no words need be said
Let us speak of the whispers 
Of grasses in the dawn
Let speak of the scent of the mountain fern
Let us speak of the satin reflections in lakes
The swish of the water on the silent oars
Let us speak of the mother suckling her child
Crooning her love in the infinite night
Lets us speak of you and I 
Let us shut the world out 
So we can exist
Let us extinguish our senses
So we can feel 
Let us douse the light
So we may perceive
Let us quench the exterior
So that we can be.