Saturday, January 23, 2016

Sunil Sharma- A Poem


Poison

Poison does not necessary lie in a serpent’s body
that gleams as a dappled rope twisting in the warm wind on a highway distant.
It lies in the eyes and the tongues
smiles and words inflicted by your own
in the family, work place and neighbourhood under e- surveillance.
Sweet poison!
manufactured by the civilized and educated within.
That is why, the bearded and monocled guy says, he quit the cushy job in Mumbai
and adopted snakes as his life-long friends.
And no regrets!
At least, they do not sting, unless provoked.
And his NGO is doing a fine work with the urbanites
by demolishing many myths around the reptiles with forked tongues and scales
and glittering eyes that inspire dread among the citizens as it they had seen the death.
In fact, many snakes saved, except the ones roaming freely in faded jeans
and Tees and eating burgers undisturbed, while half-clad kids from adjacent slums hungrily stare at the loaded tables and munching mouths from the outside,
often shooed away half-hearted by an underpaid security man in baggy pants.



Mumbai-based, Sunil Sharma, a college principal, is also widely-published Indian critic, poet, literary interviewer, editor, translator, essayist and fiction writerHe has already published three collections of poetry, one collection of short fiction, one novel and co-edited five books so far. His six short stories and the novel Minotaur were recently prescribed for the undergraduate classes under the Post-colonial Studies, Clayton University, Georgia, USA. He is a recipient of the UK-based Destiny Poets’ inaugural Poet of the Year award---2012.
He edits online journal Episteme:


1 comment: