As if stung by a nightmare,
Shaterred, wiping the meaningless dreams
Off my eyes,
Went out in the morning in quest of poverty.
I found amazement gripping me
Streets full of uncontrolled crowds,
Chattering, twittering children
Bending under the burden of backpacks,
Unaware of the doom,
In ambush waiting for them
O God! Where is the vision!
So, my face covered with the dust of dismay,
I had left my home in quest of poverty
Long lines of evildoers’ cars,
Barring my path on all sides,
Fixing me on the cross of smoke,
Went on to an unseen world,
The world of those unaware of sorrow
Of pretty, beautiful and glistening bodies
On the sideways tents of torn rags,
Crowds of urchins nearby,
Dirty, filthy women too in proximity
Beside the men in marketplace
An example of social equality.
They are totally unaware of
What the devil is poverty
That everything under the sky
Is their world
At last, shattered I returned home
As I stopped hesitantly at the doorstep,
A desolate world across
Drowned in the murky light of nights’ deceit,
Clasping poverty to the bosom
As if waiting for me
And there were unbloomed gardens of prayers,
And withering buds of hopes,
And intellect with lowered head
And the wisdom too weeping there.
