A NATION THAT FORGOT

A Woman, who was once a force,
became a fear
A Man, who was once a creator,
became a cog
An Animal, that was once a god,
became meat
A God, who was once a fact,
became fiction
A Tree, that once stood its ground,
became a log
A River, that was once a panacea,
fell ill
An Art, that was once a shastra,
became business
A Pleasure, that was once infinite,
became g-spot
A Life, that was once karma,
became a car
And a verse, that was once an epic,
became this
Because a nation, that had lived so long,
just forgot.

PAPER WOMEN

You can pour your
heart on them,
Or you can crumple
them, junk them
You can tear them,
burn them
You can cut them
into pretty things
You can paint them,
paste them, flush them
You can press your
tears them, or blood or snot
In peace, you can tickle
accords on their glistening backs
In war, they will be the weapon
or the victim at your command.

And if indeed, your bag
gets too heavy with them
You can simply leave them home
and let them gather dust.