Sleeping Conscience Poem by Bireswar Halder

Poor Mother Durga was today chucked out of her temple
And she shivered with fear, prayed for life
Today she is completely powerless on earth
Shorn of sympathy and pity she once showered on us.

Durga, a peace-invoking mother, targeted for the drought
And she was tortured and beaten up mercilessly
She has no right to enjoy facilities like human
Even her beloved children have no faith in her.

Durga, a half naked old mother of us
Finds no hope for life as she is fully exhausted
Only her bruised body lies sprawling on the ground
And demons in a ghoulish joy to victory songs.

Durga, a lean and thin unfortunate mother
Blamed to be a harbinger of dark calamities
Misfortunes, pestilences are all for her, they say,
Far from being benevolent, She is the jinxed goddess.

Dear, we are all here to rejoice over your agony and anguish
We the helpless onlookers will forget your pains
We will surely forget your unnatural tragedy
For we’ve all sacrificed humanity and conscience.

Oh Durga, you are to pine away because of this bestial mind,
Blind hope and superstitions have made us dead blind
Is it civilization – we the goblins from a primitive age,
We like monsters make a witch of a divine goddess.