THE FOLLOWING POEM WAS SELECTED IN WINGWORD POETRY PRIZE 2023 LONGLIST.
Farmer:
I look at the sky,
And look at my harvest.
I call for your mercy,
and endeavour my best.
But I got a reprieve from nowhere,
I accept my rotten fate here.
To relieve hunger,
Is the biggest kindness,
To give blood sweat to your land,
The biggest praise.
If I am the God’s most worthy,
This world won’t betray me,
If I am the God’s most kindest,
My fate won’t deprive me.
When I look at my house,
I see helplessness never seen anywhere.
Why did I get this arduous role,
Success is never within reach here.
Should I just give up, die,
Or make myself start anew,
At this point in time,
Death is easiest in view.
God (replies from the soul):
To hold on, is not easy,
To keep moving, is tough,
But it's the way,
To become a diamond in the rough,
Worth most in the array.
Your work is the best,
You are closer to me than the rest,
We are connected by heart,
From you, I can never part.
When your eyes search the sky,
Finding no hope as rain,
Sorrow fills my eyes too.
When your deep devotion to me, gives no gain,
It burns my heart too.
Loss and gain need to be maintained,
This cycle is my biggest bane.
I am helpless, not God,
Cause real God will be brave,
Like you, choose the path that is hard to take.
You are not the God’s kindest,
You are the God,
You are not the God’s most worthy,
You yourself are a praise.
After all your hard work,
you deserve the honour.
I am the one, who is weak,
Who is unable to see beyond my power,
My duty, my worship.
If you embrace death,
A huge loss will hit this world.
Your action’s high worth,
Make you my honour, my reward.
The path of suicide is not for farmers,
It’s for those weak minds.
He, who can grow abundance on barren land,
Has the strength to overcome,
All perils in kind.