Black Magic Book Poem by prabhakar bhatlekar

'You do something.
They took away my boy'
Old tribal begged to the shaman
He remembered the city traffic
..a huge frightening
stone building with
a big clock on it..a large
room with Black-dressed people.
Suddenly silence fell over.
He saw his boy with policemen.
A black-dressed man held
a fat book to an ordinary man
and muttered. That man too
muttered, placing his palm
on the fat book and then pointed
a finger at the trembling boy.
'can...can you do something? '
Old man had full faith in
shaman's incantation.
Shaman was drunk. He drowsily
shook his head, after a while
said ' They're dangerous
people..that book is full
of Black magic..if you
touch it..you dead'
'But people there touch-'
'Fool! ! ' growled shaman
'-not for them..it's dangerous
for us' Old man's heart sank
If they'll make the boy touch-
Dam, how collecting driftwood
can be a crime? he thought.
For nothing he remembered
the big clock with those
dagger-like hands, those
Black-dressed people
And that fat book full
of Black magic