Serving the Warrant

Serving the warrant ( By S.Jagathsimhan Nair) Today I cry to this dry dust Of these paths that silently merge With the scalded mud of these huts. I cry in the name of all men Who are not home as yet, driving Trucks or boats or whatever in Nameless listless wildernesses Who can’t leave an address while away But have erred and left one with law Somewhere which doesn’t leave them now Today I carry the govt’s Threats and warrants to their women Who break into piteous wails As I utter their near ones’ names. Quelling a rising storm inside They stagger their private pains once more Broken heart poem(old) for PD on 30 Mar 13 In this dust settled after much Strife in some dumb past with the Dutch By this port a rare vessel visits As if by mistake or memory lapse I locate houses only their neighbours Know, and sell law’s bitterness To these bitter-gourds of earth while Mewling kids keep tugging at their clothes. I am in turn as dry as this dust And as parched as their crackling throats I am today these dark seas whose roar Is my stiff word and wan silence.