Souls

By Ranajoy Adhikary

They talked of deadly souls,

Like they belonged to certain memories,

Washed away by tides of time,

And a misleaded tint which stayed behind.

Yet when I looked hard,

Away from the strange folks,

I discovered certain rage,

Amongst the weird hopes.

They talked of sinlessness,

And I heard certain prejudices,

And one fine midnight,

I took a ride through the streets of beings.

They talked of hunger and sadness,

And they left naked children without food,

They talked of cries of small beings,

And they perceived cries without a flinch.

They talked of honesty,

While I watched them carry off other's sweats,

And they talked of poverty,

While scurrying off with other's shares.

They talked of peace,

While the guards stood armed,

And they talked of respect,

While they spit at one another.

And I hurried off to my grave,

For graver were their sins,

A grave it was to walk on the land,

For they smelled of smoke and certain burned ash.

By Ranajoy Adhikary