GATES OF HORN

 

Grief of my life there’s no room for you

In the billion bels and frantic phons of sound

You will die in the deafening din of this mad town

Nor find one vacant grave or dumb tomb for you.

No, nomad grief there is no home for you.

No open door in this city’s vast bounds

Where two blood-hounds snarl at the gates of horn

And ten armed men spell the doom for you.

 

My beggar grief, keep your sandglass by the side

There is no place to hide, no place to run

Each foot is lit by million lumens of the sun

Each fiend watches from his window wide-eyed

Ten armed men take their firing stance with the gun

And two blood-hounds tear every pound of your hide.

–ASHOK MAHAJAN

 

Back