Poetry

By

Rajesh Nair

DOWNTRODDEN

Was laid to rest between the rails

So fixed that none should rise

Single Peek would call in for trouble

The smooth ride at the cost of others

Many have set their watchful eyes

With rods of iron to keep you down

They thrive so much at your behest

Tongues licked the nectar from above

An arousal would lead to agitate

They were paid so heavy to dissuade

Anyone who raised a word against

Would be killed and replaced

The strata of society thus structured

The poor man’s run from scarce to nothing

Middlemen thus thrived and burbed

Fanned the rich in the cold winter

None other than the sleeper between the rails

Pressed by the rail themselves so heavy

For the wagon was to run smooth with them

Pressed and kept compressed every time the downtrodden

Who ever cared for the sleeper

For so many mouths would go dry

If at all he could raise from the wrath

The wagon should never touch the rail

A day will surely come not so far

When the just would be rewarded

The wagon may fly in air

Where sleepers would no longer be used

EVERY DAY TODAY

It was early morn when darkness faded

Birds chirped the welcome note with myriad tunes

All so lazy and dull under cover presumably sleeping

When the sun shone slant with a smile

The milkman rung the cycle bell and yelled

Arrived after crossing the pond so full

Wallet never empty so well cheated

Reasons a many attributed to the dumb animal

In came the daily through the window catapulting

Brought in details of horrors and heists

A full page dedicated to obituaries

While others send in pulses of sensation intertwined

Next was the turn of the vegetable vendor

All so fresh that needed no refrigeration

Would look so much so made of plastic

Inject was costly that prices soared of all

The trumpet was blown so harsh to startle

The basket full of gills and fins at length

So cold when dug deep found the corpse hard

Stiff enough to proclaim that it died long ago

Kids woke up when the alarm bells holed their ears

Walked so stiff as if somnambulists

Washed their faces as if water scarce

Paste so much swallowed that little spat out

Oats was served in watery milk

With white eggs that came off a special breed

Apple so red and fresh with stickers intact

Bananas so ripe with no scars ever painted

Lunch was packed in boxes of beautiful plastic

For the hot stuff to remain edibly delicious

Mixed with poisonous vapors amalgamated

Took off to wait for the carrier to arrive

To take them to the kingdom of knowledge

Where every word parted came with a cost

So much to buy, so much to spend

At the end of the day were left high and dry

The roads so well maintained and clean

That any moment a fall would break bones

If destined to breathe would live for more

To fall again since the pots will never be fill

Conveyances stranded on and off the road

Tyre burst or any other reason appropriate

Fuel would not move you long enough

For they were mixed so well to last less

All on the road seem to move to mortuary

Faces none could be recognized since covered

The perfect ambience of operation theatre

For all have adorned the rig of the savior

These are not any extent of imagination

For everyday today, this is what happens

Hope for the best, wish for the best

For that is all what keeps you alive and kicking

Rajesh Nair

A seasoned professional with 14 years of diversified experience as a Commissioned Officer in the Indian Navy in the Executive branch (Hydrographic cadre) encompassing meticulous survey operations, planning and time management, resource management men and material, Data compilation, Training and welfare, Relief operations, Safety and security aspects, Men, Material and Crisis management and also as an instructor of Indian and International Naval officers in the National Institute of Hydrography.

On exit from the Navy being absorbed in the role of Chief Security Officer in a Public sector, an undertaking for the past five years, and has a flair for poetry writing, animal care and save the planet campaigns.