1 min read



They took the feet

Hung it upside down

No whispers

No cries

The radio station played the news

Which wasn’t the news

They talked about a celebrity

Celebrating the movie

Of a dark skinned man

A metaphor for misery

But who cares

The award went home

The crowd was full of applause

The stage was taken

Fake tears always have an audience

The night air loomed

With dryness and hues

There was another tomorrow 

A corpse on the Banyan tree

A picture too vivid to welcome the new dawn

The houses were shut

The conscience abandoned 

The actor now made an appearance on the

Television 

And said

The award belongs to every man

Who cannot come up on stage

And say how his existence has been mutilated

The crowd cheered

The silence prevailed

The Television was shut down

The day was lived

The dinner was taken

Footsteps crawled out

The story was told

The characters were lived

The humans were dead

And the history of this country continued to sing.




Maryam Abbasi is an educator based out of Lucknow, who has previously been published in both national and international anthologies. She is a passionate lover of literature with a keen interest in the diaspora. Besides her academic interests, she misses no chance to click the bougainvillea at the sidewalks and the abundantly spaced sky, both of which embroider a definition of love and abandonment at the same time for her.



Comments
* The email will not be published on the website.