Dad Poem by Prafulla Sahu

‘Love you, Dad! ’
Sweet words so bitter?
‘Hate you, Dad! ’
Bitter words so sweet?

‘Dad! ! ’loops round the necks.
Fathers on earth shake
Rake and scoop
but clods of tear.

Dhan in cell
Parekh in colony
Suffering obeys no border.

‘Dad’ haunts, hang me soon.
‘Dad’ stirs, leave me alone.

Words butchered in air,
Hetal! Where are you?
Words clatter in cage
Son! Where are you?

Hang Dhan but can you hang a ‘Dad’?
Hear Parekh but can you save a ‘Dad’?

{*Dhanajaya was hanged on 14 Aug in Alipur Jail i.c.w rape and murder of a 14 year school girl, Hetal Parekh in a house colony in 1990.Dad here refers to the father of the victim, Hetal and the killer who also was the father of a child}