Dear Mr/Ms Politician Poem by Rinzu Rajan

Once in every five years
the blue ink tattoos
a foolish forefinger
for a promise pronounced
at the cost of a manifesto
like a marriage agreement
nailed with nuptial niceties.

We are coerced to a choice
in the name of responsibility
accepting asphyxiation as a peerless pick,
you continue to feed your children
with a golden spoon
and compile cold cash
with your hands in our mouths
you fill your pockets
with more brass
while building for us
palaces in air.

A hundred acres and hundred million
hide behind curtailed confessions
for seven generations
greed is the gigolo you buy every night
while forgetfully conniving
at the cost of the voter's ink.
We hide in our burrows crying for a change
a few movements maroon our day
while our dust settles
on the loudspeakers at night.

And after five years nothing has changed
you pass in a cortege of cars, black and white
with windows tinted to hide your shame
while we stand behind a police barricade
bartering our fear for a costly salutation
yearning to get to the safety of our homes
before the drunken rapists
are out on their prowl.