Anamika N Poet Blank verse

Konna Papam Thenal Therum: a Plea To Cannibals

You have killed me.
Save yourself--eat me.

Nail me to a pretzel
Hang me by my feet
Drown me in molten sugar
And you may eat 
My candied fingers.
My eyes will linger
In the brittle as bubbles.
But if it isn't too much trouble,
When you're done,
Bury my bones
So I can go home.

*AUTHOR'S NOTE: The title is a saying among Malayalees (those who are ethnically from the South Indian state of Kerala) to help them rationalize the fact that they must kill to eat meat. It roughly translates to "the sin of killing [something] ends with eating [it]."

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Kathryn Collins November 9, 2013 at 4:00 PM The first two and last two lines most of all are wonderful. Do the Malayalees still engage in cannibalism? Anamika N November 9, 2013 at 4:31 PM Cannibalism was never a part of Malayalee culture. The saying comes from the idea that killing an animal is a sin, but we kill them to eat them. The idea is that it's okay to kill if it is for your own survival. The saying originally refers to animals.

S.Jagathsimhan Nair July 18, 2012 at 10:53 AM A very interesting take on that old saying..enjoyed:) Jag