28 March 2012

A Prayer...

Decrepit buildings cry out for comfort

Lodged firmly in the heart their deprivation and insult.
A similar fate awaits that man who tills the land…
Incessant, under the summer sun, monsoon rain and winter chill.
What morsel are you feeding tonight? -- your wife, your son and your daughter!
Blank stares instead, at the numbness of tomorrow; at the emptiness of survival --
...Oh what's on that platter tonight?  

You have your saucers full?
Yes, with delicious fare that’s greasing my tongue!
Look there, in your backyard!
Can you grease those gasping bellies?
Not with food from your hearth...
A brief prayer instead, to soothe parched hearts --
‘Annadata sukhi bhavah’
--- the line in italics is a prayer in Sanskrit, which suggests ‘may the food provider be happy and healthy’