FELO DE SE
By Mukunda
SPEAK,
troubling Wind, speak!
To
obey him,
or
not to obey him;
to
yield and die,
or
to revolt in disgust,
desiring
an unnatural end?
To
bear children for a beast
whose
visage is human
but
whose mind is foul as a harlot’s womb,
or
to be a secret prostitute
gratifying
the whims of a filthy mind?
Speak,
troubling Wind, speak!
To
believe in chastity!
What
is it to be chaste
when
creative act is depressing?
To
betray him,
or
to be impure with a resolution–
not
to shun Death?
Death
is impure,
yet
is it purer than Birth.
To
deny him,
or
to deny impurity?
To
deny him is unjust,
patience
rebels;
to
deny existence is possible
when
leprous thoughts career
to
culminate in a tragic act!
Madness
has purified impurity!
Speak
no more, troubling Wind, speak no more!