Farmers' Suicide Poem by Soubhagyabanta Maharana

FARMERS’ SUICIDE

* SOUBHAGYABANTA MAHARANA

When the dark future
Makes a sojourn
Over the horizon of their penury
The farmers lament
For their irreparable loss
Arising out of the scanty rains
Or the heavy floods that create calamity.

If there were insects in the crops:
It is the fault of water.
If crops burnt in conspiracy
It is the fault of fire.
If the crops failed to yield gold
It is the fault of soil.
If the bank loan was not repaid in time
It is the fault of the farmer.

Out of utter desperation and dejection
The farmers commit suicide
When the sky falls upon them.
Due to the heavy burden of bank-loan.
When you say it a farmer’s suicide
Administration terms it a common death
Owing to house-hold quarrel.
When you tell it a burden of loan
There is no mention of it
In the white papers of the government.

Between rice and hunger
The colour and destiny of the burning fire
Effects the festivals of seasons.
The surging water of the river Mahanadi
Appears to be dried up
To see the acute poverty of farmers.

Is there any colour, beauty or fashion
To embellish a farmer’s suicide
By embracing the bewitching death
After its broadcast or telecast
In the radio or television from time to time?
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