Hangmen
They came to kill me
With weapons unknown
In roguish whirlwind
Uttering my name like a magic hum.
Rural is our vicinity,
Though vicious and vile
Their hidden souls.
Brandishing their long
Sharp swords not in air
But to my limbs and body
Knocking me down I saw death.
Destiny twists everything at last
My brother fell in; to shield me.
Yes, he saved me; yielding
To their fists and lances, dying.
Their bombs wove fumes of curtain
From onlookers and saviours
Left my brother bleed till the last.
Cops saw none meek as culprits
The rope of probe went all over though
Where to find them, when fog fell on
Even in shimmering summer?
But lo! Their eyes came out
Found hanging on the cashew a man
Lifeless; upon taking him down
Saw a culprit, rope round neck.
Did he die himself? Cops ask;
Answer, though known to him
And the hangmen under the lid.
Glory Revisited
We were butterflies
nipping butter
Groomed and seething full.
Loud our sharing been
Pleasant summer warm
And sparkling.
Mutual trust one goes with
For the gain of the other
Lies a treasure ever, says she.
Like putting two spoons in your
Meal when there is chow for
One and only one.
Rose with lousy morning
Slept with horny night
Our reliance was barmy.
How long did it roll on?
For maybe eons
Still as if yesterday it began.
Breaks and slackness
Knew time spotless
Now ripping apart all.
All?
Heart looks at mind:
Why so, empathies.
My call unattended
Chat frozen
Trifling emotions from the other end.
Whimpering, no chance
Musing, no good
Says soul, something has gone down.
As if the Wall Street
market trends
Spread inflated boom.
Elixir
Dawn is up
Running to noon
And noon
Catching the twilight
Shouldering moonlight
Slowly smiling at midnight
That wavers with smoky clouds
Silence grows into perfect meads
Dancing to the tune of loneliness
Like when a heart is filled with luscious
Elixir of love mixed with
naught but love alone!
None But none
This is where I live in
my land on arrows
heart on wheelbarrows.
Ruining one’s heart is nothing
but a life, of love and what not.
no, don’t leave me alone
or us.
we are the worst ever
not truly the worse.
don’t you accredit it
that we have been endlessly the same?
how to change?
Something we don’t require?
every vestibule of our world
harrowing to the core.
not a single spot to find
virtue, even in shadows.
anarchy, not a word bubbling
with airy foam;
a culture thriving as progress!
crowd is the name labelled
as “power”, central.
Our wail screws them: “lynch them!”
Until accolades showered on them…
let us not look at this frozen body
we know whose it is…
never did he belong to us.
never will he, he is none.
After A Long Wait
My cattle had gone grazing
on the pasture of distant colours.
When will they return to bless me
with their milky grace,
unawares of their freedom?
I know they will one day,
on a sunny day, perhaps,
come back in the chains of intense love
moving their heads in unison sideways,
no rope to tie their necks
and waving their ears.
They have no master,
no, I am not;
I cannot be, once though I was.
but, when I think of my ways
to them, my nature,
idiotic sympathy,
churning mood of empathy,
heart felt intimacy,
joy of inimitable loudness,
their touch, I am adored,
honoured and live!
yet, there is a shadow,
walking beside them,
a real being, as clear as a sun,
not with light
though we may take it so,
but with burning flame!
fright is my companion,
real is my enemy, doubtful
my forward, burnt their farm,
spilled their milk,
beaten my life, tortured my destiny,
churned my mind
no chance to see them again,
we are guilty of birth
of life, love, spreading light
and virus of virtue.
About the Author
Dr. Yoosaph A.K. is currently an Assistant Professor at Government College, Mokeri, Kerala. He has to his credit numerous literary works, notable among them being The Plays of Asif Currimbhoy: A reading in Postcolonialism and Let the Nile Flow into Her Heart.
