Eyes gently closed, engrossed in a dreamless night
Opened at the devil staring at our faces.
Legs begging for rest at the endless queues
As money turned into mere paper pieces.
They died protecting us from the enemy without,
Enemy that entered the nation right under their noses.
Yet they shout and praise at their hollow promises and
At his unbeaten 56 inch chest, we bow and sing praises.
We were told mushrooms were the secret of his energy
While the common man couldn’t lay his hands on rotis.
That he loved mangoes; the ripe ones right from the trees.
While we burnt the dried wood unfreezing our bodies.
We danced beating drums as places of worships were built,
As metals were melted, forming sky touching statutes.
While Gods laughed at us within our heart as we fought
And The Iron Man
turned away within his quite grave.
Without second thought, were beaten black and blue,
As activists, farmers, students spoke for their rights
We were branded as we spoke of thoughts rational
As rice bag converts and anti-nationals
Every moment you spoke to us, we heard you eagerly
Waiting for our new task with diyas, plates and taalis.
We followed every directive, every order without fail
We even sang “Go
Corona Go” welcoming the second wave.
A mud bath, a conch, a papad
will keep it away
Yes we agreed and danced to the tunes of death.
Hugged the virus shunning the only lifelines we had;
Social distance, a hand wash and a mask.
We danced we rejoiced we bathed in your victories
As crematoriums lined up with cold dead bodies.
Gasping for colorless air, for that precious oxygen
Mere numbers on the graphs piling up the mountain.
And yet blind we are to all this with blurry vision
Right under our big black eyeballs as all this unfolds.
As programmed, we will press your buttons and
Fret not, for we will forget this all very soon.
-Sydney Billford Monteiro
