I am glad you banned my books,
you made me a hero overnight -
till last year no one knew my name
today my name is being taken in
the same breath as Rushdie, Nasreen.
Publishers are a bit upset though,
the ban has actually done them in -
pumped good money into the printing,
but one feels happy for photo-copiers,
they also have a right to living.
Ah, you removed my poems from the school textbooks
they won't be reading them in classrooms anymore;
but yesterday while walking behind the dumping grounds
I think I heard those naked kids recite a few lines
from my banned poems - where did they pick up the lines?
from neighbourhood gossips? from the local fish market
or from local trains' chatter as they crossed the lines?
Nah, I was not happy when you first banned my books.
Now I don't mind at all, rather I am quietly grateful
for the little bit of fame you brought me overnight -
You don't mind a bit of fame, do you, if it comes free?
I know you will soon ban my pens, my shoes
my glasses, my pajamas, my little funny tools
with which I plied my trade, made my living.
Soon you will also ban them from doing
anything that I did - not to walk like me
talk like me, sing like me, whisper like me -
for my whispers are of the most suspicious kind
the kind of thing that fuels disturbances
earthquakes, hurricanes, blizzards, tsunamis.
It'll be a good thing if you also banned the sun,
the moon, the sky, the sea, the caged bird
and the free bird also of whom I have sung
for that will make people take more notice
of the sun, moon, the caged bird and free bird
of which world has become a bit forgetful lately.
*******
i was reading Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie.. seems to be gist of those 600 pages! ! What more should i say... well done! !
Banned but not forgotten, banished but not alone. Cast down but not forsaken. Keep on penning. Please read some of my works when you find time.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
The last six lines add lustre to the rest, loved reading it, deserves revisiting.