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Thursday, November 7, 2024

Tale of a Numb Plant

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Raja Puniani

Once upon a time
There was a nice young girl
She used to be a
Beautiful
Stunning
Gorgeous planet

She was so cute
That
Comets were driven crazy after her
Shooting stars would tease her
Every night
Even the distant galaxies would
Gaze her possessively
Stars would fight with each other
To marry her
And aliens tried in vain
To kidnap her

She is getting old now-a-days
Getting dry
Getting dull

She is
About to die

Numb she was

She was
Raped by
A mad star
During an obsessive epoch
Of hunger and thirst

Oxygen-
-Water-
-Amino acid-

L-I-F-E

Prodigal sons of Sun
Today
Loiter around wittily
In search of
Nirvana
Sucking the blood
Of illegitimate mother planet

She
Doesn’t shed tears
Nor she cries aloud

She is neither hungry today
Nor thirsty
She has nothing to get
Only to give
And give
And to give away all

She still gives
To her prodigal offspring
What she holds
Inside her
Pale body

When she was a charming girl
Planet had posted
A letter
About her dreams
Stamped with love
To a distant planet

She still sees
That alien planet
In her dreams

Every evening
Her prodigal sons
Return home drunk

It’s cheap and common-
Every home sells
Toxic wine of civilization
Served with
Snacks of blind development

Old deserted planet-
She has nothing to win
Only to lose

She is brave
She has nothing to worry about

She is comfortably numb

(This poem was earlier featured in esteemed ecomail.com. It has been included as a reference material, along with former US Vice President Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” in one of the courses to understand climate change at the Copenhagen Business School, Hillerod Department.)

About the poet

Raja Puniani (b. 1977) is an Indian poet and literary activist, based in Siliguri, India. He writes in many languages, including Nepali, English, Hindi and Bangla, and his works have been widely translated and circulated. His published works include Arko Lashkar, a collection of poems. A post-graduate in management, he is Assistant Professor (Humanities) at Surendra Institute of Engineering and Management (SIEM), Siliguri and is one of the proponents of Hastakshep, a literary movement underway in Darjeeling and its vicinity.

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