Nissim Ezekiel As The Scorpion Man Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

With a scorpion into the hands of his,
Nissim is showing it to the whole world
Just like a spectacle
Which but a daily thing
Of the Indian countryside
Of the sun-baked mud houses,
Knapsacks kept into the house
With the paddies or wheat ears
Or the haystacks stocked into.

How was his mother bitten
On the toe,
How had it been the time,
Rainy and night-time,
How did the peasants come in
Just like the swarms,
How did they react
About previous sin and the balancing of,
Karma and dharma and human bhoga?

How had it been the reaction of his rationalist father,
A science department man,
What did he
With the paraffin oil and the match,
What did the herbalist put in,
How did the exorcist try his hands
To tame the poison with mantric effect?

Had Nissim been a snake charmer,
What would he have,
Or had he seen a cobra,
What would he have,
I just think,
Think of
How did the critics run after him
Pursuing his scorpion?