Thodupuzha, Kerala, India

A Blissful Voyage

Let my mind soar high

on the wings of the Muses

and visit the places

inaccessible.

Had I the wings of a mallard

I could fly to the States,

shake the hand of Obama,

and thank my American sisters and brothers.

I wish I had the claws of a vulture

to fetch the skeletons from Iraq

and build a bone-palace

to imprison Bush in it.

If I could fly like an angel,

would plead all prophets

to inspire and instill humanism

in millions’ communal minds.

I would meet Gandhi too

who is weeping at his shattered dreams.

I wish I were a bullet

and shoot into the chest of that terrorist

who compels that teen age boy

to explode and kill that innocent mob.

A Nightmare

I had a nightmare the overnight;

I was a hawk hovering in the sky.

I could view the cry of an obese boy

whose mother was beating him to eat more.

A cry of a different note was heard from the next door,

where a bony child was crying for a crump.

A lavish wedding feast was served in the town hall,

rich delicacies heaped on the plates,

were relished by the pompous guests

I could see two ragged girls outside

struggling with the dogs in the garbage bin.

My wings took me to a public school;

A boy in tears stood on the verandah:

A punishment for not wearing his tie!

In the humid weather of forty degree

a slavish mimic, a legacy of the West.

See, what a mansion that double-storeyed edifice!

Luxury rooms, lawn and swimming pool;

An old man and his wife resided there;

sitting at the phone with sighs and moans,

longed for the calls from their sons abroad.

Not far away were the slums of the city;

three generations lived in each hut;

grandpa, grandma, their sons and their wives,

and their little kids sleep in a room!

Tears streamed down my cheeks

I could see nothing more;

nor did I wish for it;

The siren sounded as usual

to disturb my  nightmare.

Note: Both the poems are taken from my collection of poems Winged Reason, published by Authorspress, New Delhi in 2010.