Tuesday 19 May 2020

Let them eat some cake!




How many hearts have been crushed in these fifty days

how many pairs of feet have walked the national highways

and how many lives were sliced open on the rail tracks

how many children starved as their parents trudged back

the unbalconied people who'll go anywhere

and work everything from harvesters to daycare.

Well, there's no vote this year - is that the reason why

you talk about bells-n-petals, and let them die?


12 comments:

  1. It's really tragic what is happening there. People need to hear about victims on the other side of the coin.

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    1. It's sickening. And the governmental incompetence and indifference is beyond preposterous.

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  2. Hari OM
    It is heart-wrenching... in India and also many African and similar countries where there is a large migratory workforce and extended poverty. Thank you for marking it so eloquently (as ever), Nila. YAM xx

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    1. Intolerable the whole injustice of it - a manmade, totally unnecessary crisis running parallel to the pandemic.

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  3. Sigh.
    We are all in this together (but too many are in deeper without water wings).

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    1. Far too many, EC. The images are heart stopping.

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  4. You cut to the heart of the matter Nila, and in the process, got my mind in a whirl for the next WEP challenge. Urban nightmare indeed.So many of the world's population overlooked - 'let them die.'

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    1. Nightmare of monumental proportions. Citizens are helping each other as best as they can, government seems to be merrily absconding.

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  5. your poem just wrenched my heart.

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    1. I'm sorry for it being so heavy but it's really hard to sit quiet.

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  6. Tragically beautiful poem. Horrific and horrifying.

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  7. It's so heart-wrenching..

    And it's become so predictable now that we've all become desensitized.

    But hey, we now have an economic package.

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