Rehearsal Poem by Prabhakar Subramaniam

Rehearsal



Everywhere I went I saw
People practising to praise
Learning to genuflect
Fall at feet
Asking teachers
If the head was held
Sufficiently respectfully
If the back was bent
At the right incline
Or must go lower;
If the eyes looked right
Gazing at a spot
Between their toes
Some were mildly slapping themselves
As they would before a deity
Being shown the sacred flame
Others were doing sit-ups
Arms crossed, holding their ears,
There were those kneeling down
Like children under punishment
Hands entwined in supplication
Some were crying on order
While others were grinning
Even as they were garroted
Where do I start, I asked the master
Jotting down words for a new banner
As a poet read out rhyming words from a lexicon

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