Bimal Kishore Shrivastav
Like a living tree, a passive spectator,
the mother just gazed
as her 10-year-boy headed to serve in the hotel.
Her eyes, sucking tears for years, shredded no tears.
Poverty drains humanity from human,
demolishes fragrance from flower,
defiles grace from blossoms.
Destitution burns a mother’s tenderness,
mars her rationality,
snatches a son’s innate rights to adore mother.
O Poverty! How do you transform a soul into a stone,
a breast-feeder into a butcher?
Shrivastav is a lecturer of English at P.G. Campus (T.U.), Biratnagar. His my poems have been published from the Litlight, Pakistan, The Writer’s Club, USA, Offlinethinker.com, Nepal, Aksharang, Nepal, etc. His poem, ‘Inner Storm’ was declared the ‘Best Submission of the Week’ in The Writer’s Club on the 4th September, 2020.]