am i to burst crackers or light candles
or dance in open field or visit a darling spot
to celebrate new year’s eve?
or am i to make a list of lands
where blood flooded streets?
yesteryear it was North Delhi and Bengaluru
the year before was a miss
and i am puzzled how?
2018 it engulfed Bihar,
2017 it blackened parts of
Haryana, Punjab, U P, Rajasthan, Delhi
and our Baduria homes,
Dhulagarh, Coimbatore, Kaliachak
fell from grace in 2016,
Bashirhat became a national name in 2015
how we forget Saharanpur of 2014,
Muzaffarnagar of 2013,
Assam and Canning of 2012?
should i make more backward leap or stop?
should i include Gujarat of 2002?
yes, you are right i have no moral right.
the man sails million boats to shore you believe.
bhaiyo and bahino!
in new year
we must mark a week or a month
or the whole long year in our unblemished
calender to celebrate burning of our
homes, raping of our sisters, killing
of our children.
i feel sorry for i can’t wish you
a rosy morrow of love and flowers.
still wish you all dreams
for Hughes said, ‘if dreams die
life is a barren field.’
