(A PROSE POEM)
R. Suryanarayana Murthy
What is this dame that obeys no laws
And claims its origin in some dim, dark days
When man had yet to learn to walk,
Conjures the mind with visions of the Past
Giving no clues to the tangled web of events,
Putting at the helm now one, then another,
Each claiming superior to the other
Every time springing a surprise
An election debacle, a military coup,
Or the more daunting assassin’s hand
Settling the issue for the while;
Or when things take a dramatic turn
An invader from outside or a revolution
inside
“It is the people
that rule always”
The highest bidder proclaims each time
While always it is the people
That are taken for the ride.
There are no set rules for the drama that is
History
It is a paradise where you can roam as you
like;
There is no need to go step by step,
To provide the right answer for the right
question;
The historical
process none can analyse
Where millions are involved in money and men
And ideas too sprouting from nowhere;
We may begin hoping we are at the end
But find ourselves not far from the beginning
But if the issues are more tangled,
We may be hoping we are at the beginning of
the end
But end only where no end is seen;
We claim it is typical of our studies
Where Glory and Power collude and reign.