Patriot’s Song

 

I wanted to sing a song -

A song about rivers of love

and suns of joy

 

But the river that once bathed me

now carries the tears of the girl

who killed herself in it

after being raped by people

who claimed to be guardians of her morality.

Or, was it her loyalty to the nation

that they protected?

 

The sun lashed the land

with the same zest of those guardians

And the farmer was driven to his death

The beetroot I eat carries his blood

And the stench of the pesticide

that took his life.

 

His land is being taken over

by the government to build

the tallest statue in the world

to honour the latest patriot.

 

I can hear the rumble of galled slogans

in the distant land where fairies used to sing once.

How do I sing my song now?

 

Try in Hindi, my friend said.

That’s the language of the patriot.