MOON LIKE A ROLLED- OUT
BREAD

In a country devastated by famine and pestilence,
And children dying of malnutrition every
day!
When an Ethiopean gazed up at the sky at
night,
And beholds the full moon before his sight, -
No romantic thoughts ever come his way!
In a land of hunger, only hard prose
prevail!
When poetry and verse loses its sanity,
And only hard prose protrude like the ribs, -
From half- naked and starved humanity!
He tried to sing to forget his hunger,
But words failed to flow from those parched
lips any longer!
And his soul hung on to his body for dear
life,
Perhaps death could only give respite!

The full moon looked like a rolled- out
bread!
And if only a small crumb could break
and fall,
Perhaps it would be enough tonight, -
to feed them all!
And if by some miracle of fate,
The hungry millions of this earth,
Could lay their hands on that entire bread,
Before the arrival of any relief van,
They will surely gobble it up as soon as
they can;
Such are the torments of hunger pang!

Yet the full moon did shine brightly tonight,
As the Ethiopean gently closed his eyes,
God willing, and if his luck holds,
He may survive this one more night!

-Raj Nandy
New Delhi
27 Feb 08
(Poem is dedicated to Sathyanaryana ji)

RAJ NANDY

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