for the battle of identity234win

for the hundreds dying

for the millions who do not care

burn, 

they said 

burn 

because 

you do not

matter.

let's turn 

your rice fields

into our 

battlefield

so we may 

keep you divided.

so we may

feed our fanatics

your fractured

souls~

so we may 

feed them

more power~

so we may

feed not the

poor and hungry

but the fat

and wealthy

with your wounds

and your blood.

burn,

they said~

because 

you do not 

matter

because 

your naked bodies

are for us

to stain 

with the lust

of male arrogance.

because

you do not 

matter

because

you are mere

pawns 

in our game 

of chess.

Ram rosewith his bowand arrow likea warriorout of a poet'simagination~out of Valmiki'smeanderingmind.Valmiki ofmany avatars.sometimesRatnakar,sometimesAgni Sharmathe son, spouse,thief, asceticand epic poetwho harvestedthe narrativeof Ramayana fromthe fertile fieldsof his vividimaginationsome five hundredyears beforeMother Maryoffered Jesusto the world!Valmiki createdRam,the mythic warrior~and Ramdid not knowhe would liveinto eternityin the templesof myopiain the dividesof dystopiathat unhingeshumanity.Valmiki's Ram,the mythic warriorthe icon for virtueslaying Ravanathe vampire of villainywho stole his Sita,did not knowthat one day~one dayhe'd be morphedby Machiavellianmonstersinto the multi-headedRavana, eachhead a hate-filledfanatic unleashingtyranny on the"other".just as Valmikidid not knowhis moral lore wouldone day bea tool for tormentorsa bible for barbarians.

Bina Sarkar Ellias is a poet234win, editor, designer and publisher of International Gallerie

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• #039
• 234win
• Battle
• Poems