Mahanadi Poem by Chittaranjan Misra

The river never wanted to be walled.
She used to flow past Hirakud
Singing the glory of the diamond mounds.
She never wanted to be sluiced
Channelled through turbines
Churned.
She never wanted to be checked and choked
On her way to the sea.
She never wanted to drown
The gods of villages
Whose temple crests pop up
When waters of the reservoir recede.
She never wanted to turn a hill top into an island
Drive away men leaving their cattle there.
The cattle have turned wild now
Like the anger of the displaced.
She never wanted to
Enter into the hunger of furnace.

Did she ever want to
Turn her fishes into crocodiles
Rinse her wrath
On dry hot bed of sands
Along her banks
Emptied of water before reaching the ocean?