To The Ones I Turned Away

By Tanushree Kar

I am a child, carved out of flesh and bones

Arteries which pulsate along with veins,

And shards of a broken soul.

I once had innocence which was robbed of me

Not by lust or greed but by humanity.

I was not humane enough, to feed the dogs on the streets

I was not humane enough, to give the old man a warm sheet

I was not humane enough, to cure the ones who were in pain

I was not humane enough, to shelter the birds from the rain.

I am a human but I carry no humanity.

Sympathy doesn’t linger in my eyes, neither love nor generosity.

Because,

Once I got bitten by the dogs who lay on the streets.

The old man pretends to be blind, staring at women behind the sheets.

The ones in pain curse others, ignorant of their selfish deeds.

The birds in rain once destroyed a farmer, pecking on his barley fields.

I am a human but I carry no humanity;

The innocence stolen from my golden childhood

Was not by lust or greed

But by the fellow human beings.

By Tanushree Kar