Monday, November 26, 2007

Image after image inside image...


First; "Lines":

She runs on my television screen - while two neat black lines
Follow her, precisely hiding what we must ignore.

Simple mathematics in a glass building shows that it would be easy
For us to imagine her without breasts. A woman without a vagina.

Hideous but in better taste, after all the news does come at dinner time.

How bad can we feel when neat lines divide her body and numb our pain.

No she wasn't born with those lines, and when the boots were kicking her those lines
Did not exist, the boots weren't dented. They only came later for easy money and to protect
Our drawing room conscience from hurting too much.

Second; "Cameras"

Mute stone men, catching the moment on cheap phone cameras
Like reciting the story of her humiliation to a blind man - except he can clearly see the things he wishes to.
City street full of them - drowning out her scream in their manic silence as they watch.
After she was dragged down, the cameras decide on an encore.

Third; "The Voice"

Remorseless speech, though certainly apologetic about the damage to cars and shops.
"Unfortunate" incident, "undivided" we shall always remain. Inquiries. Justice. Woman - who?
Nudity is a bad thing for our children to see back home.
Men on the other hand can strip who they choose - anger is best let out.

We shine much like our country. Moving onto other news. Sell me the camera again. Move on to someones success.

Fourth; "Image"

Slow it down to a walk, so I may forget that there was an image this evening of a half woman
running for help into nobodies arms.


-A peaceful protest on a street of guwahati (assam) turned violent. an adivasi woman was stripped naked, chased after, kicked repeatedly on her breasts and vagina and paraded down the street.This news played over and over again with a caption on the top right of the screen saying "Shame", while Assam's chief minister was heard in the background calling the incident "unfortunate" and still saying that "they remain undivided". i don't know the woman's name - the journalists reporting the incident did not think it necessary to say.


3 comments:

Unknown said...

beautiful poem... the journalists are not allowed to reveal the name of a sexual harassment victim (to protect anonymity). ironical isn't it, considering her image was the haedline.

Mizohican said...

Nicely written!!!! Describes the whole incident completely. It is indeed an utter shame for such an incident to occur...

Whirling Dervish said...

this one makes me bleed. n i don't know whether calling it a damn god poem would really help the cause, as the reality of the situation is so ugly. but its reassuring to know that poets can still put their fingers on reality so powerfuly. Jiyo!