But What About Those? Poem by Nikhil Parekh

You may have washed your hands; cleaning them scrupulously of the most invisible of stain,
But what about the blood adhering to your heart; the several innocent whom you had beheaded without any rhyme or reason?

You may have eaten stupendously sizzling slices of mutton; masticating the morsels after blending them with handsome salt,
But what about the goat mother who bleated incessantly; after losing her only son, the only flesh she had delivered facing the grueling agony of long months?

You may have laughed the loudest in the crowd; propagating the same infectiously
in pedestrians around you,
But what about the old man; who had to trip his footing in a slush of dirty sewage water; in order to cause you to smile?

You may have dressed in the most glamorous of coat and trousers; sprinkling your entire demeanor with an ocean of passionate scent,
But what about those tyrannized sheep who were left shivering in bizarre cold; after you uncouthly stripped their skins of their natural protection?

You may have spoken the most flowery speech on the mike; drawing loads of adulation from all those who were mesmerized by the beautiful essence in the lines,
But what about the writer whom you had incarcerated in the dungeons; after stealing his writing to stand tall and domineering?

You may have driven in the most contemporary of car; with its golden wheels traversing the meandering lanes of the hill like a galloping panther,
But what about the infinite stalks of fresh grass; the innocuous infants wandering around; whom you had trampled indiscriminately in your insatiable march towards victory?

You may have drunk cartons full of mineral water; quenching your thirst under the scorching Sun of midday,
But what about those people reeling under severe drought; whose wells you had emptied to tingle the food in your stomach?

You may have lived for a 100 years; surviving on the most conventional of medicine and steroids,
But what about those innocent whom you had slaved; in order to clean every iota of dirt you spat on this earth?

And you may have loved; imprisoning every girl you set your eyes on with the power of your wealth,
But what about all those billion lives you had assassinated; in order to satisfy
each desire of yours?