"The Last Expression - Blood for Sweat"
Ringo Pebam *
I knew no politics and killed no one,
I am not the sinner who raped this land inside out.
I am not the man in uniforms who gave midnight knocks.
I sweat the day out to earn and feed my hungry family.
The 17th of March, dusk at Heiyen Hangul, I lie dead with six others.
What have I ever done to deserve this?
Am I killed just because of my skin or eyes?
Am I killed just because I was not born here?
I begged them to let me live for my children.
But they did not listen, they did not listen.
I lie shot, crushed and broken on the roadside,
With my head disfigured by the bullets.
This beautiful land, once graced by the great Hijam Irabot,
Still shines with the living legend Irom Sharmila,
But how could some people devalue life so much?
How could they play God and be so merciless?
My body will be consigned to flames as the earth swallows me.
But will they bury the inhuman acts with the dust?
Do not hate their children, for it wasn't their fault.
Many of them too have faced similar fate.
While the world is crying over the stupidity of man,
My spirit seemed to mingle with the wind,
Another shot is fired somewhere,
And the valley reverberates with unceasing questions.
** Inspired by Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and dedicated to victims of the recent killings in Manipur.
* Ringo Pebam contributes regularly to e-pao.net. This poem was webcasted on March 21, 2008.
* Comments posted by users in this discussion thread and other parts of this site are opinions of the individuals posting them (whose user ID is displayed alongside) and not the views of e-pao.net. We strongly recommend that users exercise responsibility, sensitivity and caution over language while writing your opinions which will be seen and read by other users. Please read a complete Guideline on using comments on this website.