Ashok Niyogi
Donkeys, of course, you know
And humans with misshapen backs,
Water from a river ten miles away,
Handkerchief plots with terraced cultivation,
Maybe one crop a year,
I carry a burden too.
So many tears in my breast,
The wind of the pines in my ears,
Wild flowers to take away my fears,
Mountain goats on precipitous slopes;
I’m afraid, I don’t need you.
Raise the sun when you will,
Set the moon to highlight the stars,
Tear rock apart, let water bubble forth,
Grow your pines in impossible elevations,
Show me the Plains way down below
And yet, I won’t believe you.
Beasts of burden are ‘dumb heads’, you know,
Mulish in their extremities
Tough in their fear
What else do they have?
To them, fear is dear.
