No Price

By Mannat Kaushik

this is the synopsis.

this is the testimony.

the final chapter.

the consequences of the hegemony.

prerogative---

we made it for us.

selfish.

we made it "just" for us.

prying danger---

we been doing that for centuries.

ever since our existence,

we have just filmed "documentaries".

we have been portraying the wrong narrative.

"the salvation of Mother Earth.":

'tis just an occasional fervour,

dragging us further and further...

further from the truth---

thought we ain't! we just pretend to!

we all know the actual scene,

but we just don't tend to;

pay attention.

band-aids don't fix bullet holes.

we've made a few "ambassadors" to look after the whole.

but the once-in-a-while zeal,

hasn't healed. can't heal.

this is the precis.

this is the conspectus.

the outline.

the exploitation of the precious.

the 'saurs that walked the ground,

the birds that soared through the sky once.

we have textbooks drafted about them.

but they were here, before us once.

generations before,

generations now.

and soon after ours,

they'll all ponder how.

the narrative will go on.

today's and tomorrow's.

one sunrise and thousands others.

cul-de-sac. all of the sunlight--- it'll smother.

it won't be too long, before they'll say.

at each sunrise, and thousands others...

won't take too long to happen,

and these lines would mark each day...

"blue skies.

green trees.

they say it was paradise.

they say it was worth no price..."

"the land, the air.

the chorus of birds.

they say it was paradise.

they say it was worth no price..."

By Mannat Kaushik