The Robe of Gold



Don't let me get swept away in this tide that leaves no traces
Chain me if you must to the burden that is my privilege to bear
Chain me with the dreams, hopes and aspirations of a whole generation, a generation that suffered and saved and then died
That is my inheritance
Chain me with my legacy that is rooted in the soil
In the sweat and toil of a young ragged boy
Who dared to dream
Dared to dream of a life that didn't depend on the whims of the fickle earth for a day's sustenance
Mark me with the blood he spilled as he faced bullets
With his unshed tears as he smiled and saluted facile, entitled, potbellied seniors
Entitled by birth, entitled by fate
Mark me and let it be my reminder
As the soul of the emaciated boy let the man nod and stand in attention as the gluttons took credit for his work
With nothing but the power of a few extra stars on their shoulders
The only path that led to light for him
He wove a cloth of gold, gold bought at a huge price as he walked down that road
He wrapped his little girl in that cloth of gold
And bid her take care
Wrapped in that gold, the little girl poured her all into her lessons to preserve that gold
She is a woman now and she has forgotten that she bears the robe of gold
She was chosen to wear it
Chosen to fulfil the dreams of a generation
The dreams of a young ragged boy
She has forgotten the robe and she has forgotten the burden which is her privilege to bear
She is the hope of the little boy
His last standing chance
I am the last standing chance
Remind me of the robe of gold, chain me to my purpose
For his sake, for my sake.

 

  1. A Prayer

 

Let me free misery
Do thou the mighty pity me
Fly far away and leave me in the heaven of purgatory if not the one of bliss
Or let me fly far from thee who fliest not from me
Set me uninjured in the world of happiness
Set your sway on that which injures
Leave me, a simpleton to trip over her own feet
Prey not on the meek
We already cower in the shadows of the fierce
Don't trample over the weed
Fight thou he who is thy equal
Don't trample over the meek
Let me die only once at once
Not every day for the rest of the days

 

  1. Prayer 2

Come bless my sullen way
Do thou felicity, bind me with your hallowed sway
From thee who escapeth the best escapists of woe
Let me not escape
Find me with a store of entwined dreams
Find me entwined with the twine
Of that tree that heals
Those thy twin maimed
Free me from this sickly teal
I aspire towards the earthy browns
Reserved for those hardy deep down
Give me hardships a hundred, nay a thousand
But shadow my days
Let thy rays
Guide me away from the bane
Of thy brother's strain
Enfold me in thy fane
Nay, encompass me in thy sweet refrain.

 

  1. The Vulnerability of Our Universe

 

Fighting a battle inside out

Internal bleeding, not just collateral damage

The wide expanse that we carry within us

Hanging by the veins of an uncut hand

Our smile just a duplicit reflection of theirs

Our lives reliant on a fine balance

Of fate or a slight swerving in that unending universe

That guides us from the tips to our toes

Our lips and our woes

The entire universe conspires to help them

Who will help us?

 When our universe is collapsing in on itself.

 

  1. Burn Us

 

 

Burn us, leave no traces
Burn us, like effigies
Of those you can't touch
Burn our voices too
Why don't you?
But silence us, you can't.

Sati Pratha, birthed by you
Nurtured by you
Centuries upon centuries
Of our ashes
Cover your conscience
Bathe us in fire
But wash away our identities, you can't.

Burn us, leave no traces
Touch us, choke us
Blind us to your tyranny
With your poisoned honey
Cage us, under a pretty glass ceiling
Weave us more bejewelled veils
To hide our very faces
Hide it from your kind
Burn us, rape us
But conquer us, you can't.

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This poem won in Instagram Weekly Contest held by @delhipoetryslam on the theme 'Street Kids'

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