The Venomous Swamp Poem by Sanjib Saha

Morning dawns, I wake, and look around.
No, I see nothing! Yet, I should have seen.
They asked, 'What are you searching for? '
I replied, 'Many things, but finding none.'

They said, 'Search thoroughly, in light and darkness,
In the depths of great men, you may find.'
I search, tirelessly searching—
Trying to place my hand on my heart.

But I find no hand to grasp,
No pulse to feel, no clenched fist to rise!
Without a heartbeat, how can I awaken?
I try to straighten my spine,
But everything seems horizontal.

They asked, 'Don't you have a backbone? '
I replied, 'I had one at birth.'
They asked, 'Don't you have eyes?
That's why you see nothing, right? '
I said, 'I had them at birth.'

They said, 'Don't fear, even horizontal serpents
Have venomous swamps in their hearts.'

— Sanjib Saha