Lessons Poem by Bishnupada Sethi

It was the other day-
I woke up in the morning
To the shock and bitterness of my life.
All the fishes of our pond had drifted.
Night's wind washed the shoals up to the bank.
Those were not swimming anymore.
Mouths were wide open,
Bellies exposed skyward.
The water was still-
There was an abrupt end to the play.

No longer the smell and taste of my feed
Meant anything to the lovely creatures.

How could my fishes have enemies?
Someone who didn't like me
Wished to teach a lesson.

People asked to adjudicate and give me justice
Thought I must accept their logic-
No one could be faulted
As a tail from the star like a lightning
Fell into the water
Causing an end to the lives in it.
Even someone claimed to have witnessed
Such a cosmic event in the dead of night.
And the fish after all is a food
Someday or other would have met this fate.
Of course, there was a loss
Of a sum of few hundred rupees
But it's act of nature-
They explained while leaving.

I was not a fool-
All those gathered too knew
Who had done it
In the dark hours.
But I had no witness to point out any blame.

Years later-
From amongst the masked people around today
I'm looking for the same guy
Who had poisoned my fishes
And led those to die while
Gasping for breath.

Nothing has changed however:
There's greed, anger
And hatred everywhere.
The eagerness to take revenge
Remains unabated.