GOING BACK HOME TOWN

All roads to my home town
Are blocked.

Looking into a map
To search for a way home town,
I find bloodstain all over,
Corpses of young and old
Acrid smell of death

The mirage in front
Won’t quench the thirst
In any way.
It can only sympathize;
Shed tears.

In the cage of barbed wire
Amidst the skulls
Lies hidden
My days of youth
Reminiscent of trees
That sang lullabies
With its low-lying branches.

Now there are no trees;
No human beings;
And so no more death.

The followers of Dhammapada
Hold dove-meat in one hand
And in the other a bowl
Overflowing with fresh blood.
Beneath their feet
Is the washed-out
Tri-colour flag,
Out of which struggles
To release itself
The Dharma Chakra.

Amidst tabooed words
That can neither be written
Nor spoken,
Rise quite often
Long Live Bharat ! Long Live Humanity !

From the vacuum
Prevailing between
Blessing and curse,
Goes the dirge
With the feeling of emptiness
All through the path
That takes us back home town

- Maharandan

Translated from Tamil by Dr.P. Raja