Nagandran Murugiah Poet Free verse

He Said

HE SAID

I met a man;
He had the breath of beer on him; We met as I was coming out of a pet shop.

We struck up a conversation.

He spoke,
Of how he worked hard for his family,
Night and day.

He bought a lot of land,
Built a small house on it, Single-handedly,
With some help from his drunkard friends.

He told me his two sons were students at a nearby university; One pursuing a degree,
The other a Master’s degree.

I listened as he said he refused to let his wife work;
He held two jobs.

I wished I were as hardworking and responsible as he was;
I shook his hand and said I had to go.

Four days later,
I saw him lying drunk and asleep under a tree;
Truth reached my ears:
He was actually a cruel bastard Who beat his wife and children every night,
And was kicked out of his younger son’s house.

He let his wife and his elder son work,
Yet he stayed drunk all day and night.

And the land and house he told me about,
Were actually on squatted land And had been demolished last year;
He didn't build it,
It was there,
Where he and his battered family took refuge.

The kingdom He envisaged to me,
Was a ruined one.

He let his wife and his elder son work,
Yet he stayed drunk all day and night.

And the land and house he told me about,
Were actually on squatted land And had been demolished last year;
He didn't build it,
It was there,
Where he and his battered family took refuge.

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