The Drunkard’s Wife Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

What it happens on her, none but a drunkard’s wife
Can only tell about,
The experiences of her life,
What it undergoes on her,
How the emotions and feelings of hers
To bear the brunt of!

Sometimes comes he singing a ghazal,
Sometimes sobs and weeps he within himself
Like a simple child,
Sometimes engaged in a brawl, an altercation
Outside the family,
Breaking down before her
With the open mouth,
Sometimes flanking the friends,
I mean the bottle-takers,
He going hand-in-hand, hand-in-glove,
Shoulder over shoulder,
The same old friends
Returning with drunken capers and bouts.

Always promising, always saying it that he will not touch
Wine again, ready to bid goodbye to it,
But takes he again,
Forgets he the promise
While stepping outside the house,
As the friends make him drink,
Break the promise
And he fails to keep up the words given
To his wife, daughter and son,
Touching their heads and saying,
Saying it that he will not again,
But comes he drunk again
As he cannot shun addiction.

When finds he not money, asks he his wife to give,
Wherefrom to bring,
This he will not take to,
She has to give to anyhow
And if his hand is short of money,
He may sell the lantern,
The things of the house,
The plates and dishes
Whatever finds he,
He can mortgage the ornaments,
Lands and properties or pleasure sake.