Archives / October 2018

KASTURI SHA
TWO EPISODES OF A SERIAL










A deep dark dungeon
A single prisoner down a corner
Being tethered with a slinky rope
Limited movements, at
Limited thoughts,
Life of a slave.


Neither freedom nor individuality
Lay there with closed eyes,
Floating in the viscous fluid
Limited sensations,
Limited aspirations,
Life of a slave.
Ate the remnants of food thrown out,
Breathed the remnants of air left out,
Lay trapped in a labyrinth
Limited dreams,
Limited hopes,
Life of a slave.

Without knowing day or night, light or sound
A mere existence of a parasite
Tried to push against the bloody wall
Limited impact,
Limited strength,
Life of a slave.

Lay hibernating in the prison
Ten months of suppressed prison life,
Ten months of preparation for vengeance
Limited years of servitude ends,
Limited term of imprisonment ends,
Life of a slave comes to an end.

*       *     *
Like a butterfly struggling out of its cocoon
After hours of hue and cry
The glistening tip of a blade slashes the rope,
Severed the cord that wound him up
And set him free....
To experience the reality of the second phase

He slid through a narrow alley
Into the strong blazing lights of the green room
Silence gave way to commotion
Heard the first sounds that broke the silence
The blazing lights burned his eyes
The crowd exhausted him, left him breathless.

He made an attempt to resist-
Clenched those little limp fists tight
Closed those eyes hard and opened the rosy mouth
Filled up his chest with air
With all his might
Gave a strong wail, a blow and a gasp!

He passed through rough hands,
Felt those ten sharp the nails on them,
Heard laughs that bullied him
Wiggled like a tiny worm in those cruel hands
His only forms of resistance-
Kick, Pull, Wail....

He was exchanged between oceans hot n’ cold
Giant fingers tossed him up in the air,
The hard rubbing pained the tender body
The sodden body went to and fro along a towel
Then wrapped in layers of white loins,
Uncomfortably and artificially warmed

Needles injected foreign bodies into him
Rough hands mauled him, toyed him
Then brought him to a dim chilly room
Uncomfortably and artificially cooled
Then placed in a rocking puddle
That disturbed and dizzied him

Monstrous laughs and staring eyes demented him
The first day in this ambitious world was crooked
An important day was ruined,
The day he thought he’ll be free
But reality trapped him in stronger chains
That was to last even longer.

The second episode is a longer one
Unlike the first, he wasn’t alone
Like the first he was still a parasite
Limited moments of peace,
Limited jiffies of joy,
Life of a slave haunted on...

The curtain of the second episode falls
As a thief enters at the climax
To rob his only possession- the latent soul
Being scourged from head to foot he struggled
The same struggle of the first episode
Being repeated before the second ends.

After the thief escaped
His sordid “body” was wrapped in white loins again
Placed in a muddy puddle cut low by expert hands
Limited senses,
Limited perceptions,
LIFE OF A SLAVE GOES ON.......

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