Born in realms of greenery, where patches of stray habitat complete the harmony,
I remained to the civilization
A cloistered stranger.
City was to me
A many splendored rainbow, and like an ardent lover I longed to discover
The heart of the rainbow.
One accursed day
Seduced by the sweetness of a celestial lay
‘My cozy shell I cast away. Leaving my home behind with no home ahead,
I walked thru stubble plains And crooked lanes.
In the twilight hour of dying shadows
I saw stars gather Like sportive gods or gay lords
To watch the circus of my crazy quest.
After a journey Long and weary, Happened to stumble In to an esoteric jungle. There in neon lights Flowers smile the same But smell differently
For the soil there
Is a heap of human bones And buds bloom there
In beads of pale blood.
I saw there Faceless figures
Feasting together
And felt thirsty.
“Give me a little water I come from a distant land And Tam tired”, I said, ‘They poured purple water, Tasting bitter and said, “Tell us all,
All about your distant land”. Talked of lusty gold
In soft breeze swaying like the nameless nuns In low cadence praying; talked of pastures wild And maidens naughty Singing of soil’s fertility.
“How romantic”, said one.
“The stink in him
Is so very foul,” abused another.
“I like him a lot,
I will go to his land”,
Chimed in a child,
His voice came
‘As a wave of hunger
And involuntarily T asked
For a morsel of bread.
The word bread Exploded like a bomb and in the clatter of glasses And giggle of lasses
I found my self
Groaning on the ground, my sides aching
My mountable and around me
Indignant voices shouting, “He is a scum of the earth “send him back to dusting
“He talks of bread, “He can be dangerous,” “No he is an extreme: “or may be a terrorist, “Lynch him alive.”
But in soft syllables,
Babbled the child,
“Hold your hands
“Hurt not my brother
“He comes from the green land “There will I go with him.”
Can a Child’s babble stand against
A multitude of wolves? I wonder,
And the seven cultured Splendor
‘Tums into a torture
Of black splinter.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 23, 1986
