Wounded but Unbowed

Photographs, such as this one clicked by my FB friend Arvind Khanna of New Delhi, actually stop you in your tracks and make you think.

The apathy of a society that lets this happen, the mercenary  attitudes, that allow such bondage, and the foolish types, who think this will keep a good person down.

The photographer has included this capture in a set, entitled  "wounded" .

I would like to add,  "and unbowed".....

Think again.

 (photo by Arvind Khanna)

Acid thrown on her,
disfigured,
and bare bones
she stands,
unlimbed,
yet trying to display
a "v" for victory sign.

They think
they will keep her in place
with
wire barbs
and wordy barbs;
Both poke and hurt,
and sometimes
draw blood.

They know not,
that her real strength
lies enmeshed
in the social underground;
solid strong roots
absorbing and passing on to her
the sap of confidence.

New tissues,
new growths,
newer limbs,
and the latest fruit
enjoyed in a new independence,
as the barbed folks
keep trying,
rust, and fall apart.

Letter to God

Blogger friend , Braja Sorenson, who lives in West Bengal , posted this in her photoblog Braja's India .    From the beach at Jagannath Puri (in the state of  Orissa, on the east coast of  India, neighboring the state of West Bengal). 

Honestly, there are no words.

(photo by Braja Sorenson)
Discarded,
childlike as an adult,
away
from those who
pretended to be caretakers,
free and open
now
to the sky
and sea,
she huddles,
a leftie,
and
fingers a letter
to her God
in the sand.

Tired,
sick,
undeterred
in the breezy sand,
she does not move.

Her finger may not
have moved,
but God has read the letter....

The abundance of loss

Sometimes you wonder at the abundance of loss amidst excess of green in some lives. And sometimes, the green isn't organic at all.

Like in this photograph by blogger friend Harekrishnaji, who seems to be on a roll touring the backroads of a Maharashtra in the Monsoon....

I wonder if nature learns from us, or we replicate its attitudes . Must be the former....

(photo by Harekrishnaji aka Priyadarshan Kale)
It's time,
someone painted
firmly,
on the canvas
of her life.

Surrounded by
millions,
seizing the day,
trying for a place,
standing cheek by nodding jowl;

Some even
trespassing to steal,
her home,
sneaking up
tearing her roots,
and then
smiling
and standing there,
as if
it was all theirs,
anyway.

Some so called
tall ones
stand by,
rich green
in their own zone,
as some,
upright types,
unbending
in the breeze,
put on a show
of distant righteousness.

All those green billions
surrounding them,
enriching their vote base
must be ignored
as
she,
leafless, fruitless,
but tough
in a body and mind,
atrophied with worry
holds on firmly,
to what
she was born with :
Her Earth PAN card......