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I
I strayed into the dimly-lit bylanes of memories past,
That stood entwined with a hideous action's cast-
The scene that tore asunder the fabric of my green mind,
For the act could move killer of any kind.
II
Such a gory act enacted before our naked eyes,
Could render any pitiful scene of violence as lies;
The scene I relate could drown the wind with tears,
And with virulence did confirm His worst fears.
III
One father and his young son brutally killed,
In broad daylight; I stood stunned at what He had willed.
The genesis of all the trouble in a trifle lay,
That snowballed to smother His two sons of clay.
IV
Kids had quarrels and their parents into the fray did come,
None had imagined that would result in tragedy for some.
Mild altercation of elders, death's arrival precipitated,
And lives of two innocent persons stood pitifully truncated.
V
Two persons with milk of human kindness into gall turned,
Armed with a dagger and a farsa with fiery revenge burned,
We duo watching the scene in our balcony stood;
Beneath the Heavens too waited for the outcome crude.
VI
Two mad elephants stood bent on putting out two lives' flames,
And in Heaven's kingdom vouched for Satan's game.
The lions nimbly pounced at unarmed hapless lambs,
And made Horror cry in horror to hold them champs.
VII
When all was over, two bodies in a pool of blood did lie,
Children and newly widowed women rent the air with their cry.
An army of stony onlookers ran fast to the rescue of humanity widowed,
Showed how cowardly a crowd plays and rushes in when life's door is closed.
VIII
Never can I wipe out memories from my mind's slate,
What bloody dainties had I noticed on Satan's plate.
Let us not be robbed of prudence lest the Satan in us has his way,
So that we may not glance at our own actions with dismay.
Note: My visit to my native town of Chapra (Bihar) refreshes memories of the murder of two innocent persons in August 1977 in my neighbourhood to which I was an eyewitness along with my sister when I was barely 16. The murderers were physically stronger than their victims. The former were engaged in illicit liquor trade while the latter used to sell confectionary items on wooden trolleys in Jyoti Cinema at Chapra. |
