Rebel Poem by Pinaki Dewan

The velleities have met,
The smoke prying in reticence, Fabian,
The crickets lisping to the infants:
Know the augury of the sense.
Life is terrifying, especially to the plebeians,
The hopelessness and the hysteria, remnants
Of a world of veneer and bullets;
Know what it is like
To be at the receiving end of the spikes.
Know what it is not like
To be at the receiving end.
Unless you know both, you know nothing.
And hold your water, you irascible twerp!
There is nothing to be gained here,
Nothing to be squandered,
Except that hard-earned sanity of yours.
So, wait by the hinterlands,
Listen to the mutters and sibilations,
Rub your hands and stay firm on your feet,
Or prepare to accost defeat.