Numbness Overfllows At Ease Poem by Avik Datta Gupta

Calligraphic papers with your name…
A scribbling of a few signatures below it..
By someone you might not know …
Proved to the world instantly
That you are numbered, and most importantly labeled
A piece of recycled plastic is our placard of annual identity
With a date of expiry…beyond which… we aren't what we are
We need to prove that we were born..our manufacture date
Our families need to prove that we are dead…. our date of expiry
Are we people or products?
We need to prove our nationality.. Yes..the 'Made In..' sticker
That split second, like that single dropp in titration
Colour changes from something to nothing
Nothing to something…flags up magical reactions
And they say seeing is believing
We are in compliance to certain complicated
Instantaneous reference point, which shifts with time
A shutter clicks, the flashbulb winks
And we are what we are for the rest of our life
Carry them in plastic folders and wallets…
We believe it more than our selves.
We all are a bunch of throbbing human resource
Euphemism for livestock..the poultry farm of humans
Believing none but some documentary evidence
With a meaningless fanciful logo on a stamped letterhead
Delivery notes from the throbbing store
Invisible invoices are generated instantly
What a price we pay for a tag
Be it a liability or an asset
Auditing, bookkeeping… accounting is imperative,
Sealed and validated..decided upon… and then …
Hung up and shelved in suspended files
In the darkness of a morgue like drawer
Wonder what we want?
To select someone for flogging human beings
While swearing they are concerned about our freedom
Who are we in this world…? What defines us?
Who decides…? Who allows such decisions..?
Our Numbness overflows at ease