Mankind is a book
and every letter
represents a living soul
The book is complete only if
all the letters are present
and in their proper order
But the book as whole
is never preserved
Individual letters aren’t valued
words and paras perish
or blur
Sometimes whole chapters are wiped out
vacuums created
rendering the text invalid
Pages don’t form a sequence
and are in conflict
and torn out
The protective cover
detached itself ages back
and the snow white pages
exposed to the dirt and smoke
of the atmosphere
are getting dirtier and dirtier
The gutter spaces have blackened
Lines have ceased to make sense
It is no wonder that
God
fails to read the book of man

© Sunil Rajguru

Unwillingly the shutters go down
all of them
The busy places of transaction
exchange nothing
The overcrowded streets
witness
a lone dog on the prowl
and none may dare to
stem the tide
else face a backlash
from
forces interested in their own cause
Cause?
The merchant rues his loss
the labourer stares at the cold chulha
as money the mover
stays locked in vaults
and does none good
The household whiles time in
restless anxiety
the child stares and wonders
As the whole town
waits for a fresh sun
And under this fresh sun
The forces sit back and look at
What they’ve achieved…
…nothing…

© Sunil Rajguru

A man fires a gun—for a cause
A missile explodes—for a bigger cause
for every cause there is a bomb
for every bomb there is a cause

My cause is different from your’s
your’s different from mine
so I kill you and
you’d rather drink my blood than your wine

Scruples vanish
races exterminate. Conflicts rage
borders vanish and reappear
countries attack. men age

But mother Earth quenches her thirst
with blood as much as water
and the soil retains its fertility
with human bodies as manure

so go. Defend your cause!
kill they neighbour
mine is one cause
your’s another

© Sunil Rajguru

The birth of a life
in a mother’s womb
A dormant seed in hibernation
waiting to breathe fresh air
and see the world with its tiny eyes
growing slowly, steadily and beautifully
Blind, defenceless and unaware
Of the plot to end it life
by the very medium
whose duty it was
to suffer the labours and give birth
To protect. To feed. To kiss…
But a kiss it does receive
A mother’s kiss of death
for no reason of its own
other than being of one sex
instead of another

© Sunil Rajguru

Iron bars, cages and walls of pleasure
Four legs walk in fear as
pairs of eyes watch in delight
Free animals come to watch those which aren’t
a spectacle for the eyes
Man, who separated himself from nature ages back
snatches the children of nature
to entertain his own children
Food without toil
an artificial and permanent shade
No right to prey or be preyed
The hunter and hunted are jointly
showpieces in a cabinet
A place where innocents are put into prison
without a crime, trial or judgement
Yet a life sentence is passed on all of them

© Sunil Rajguru

He sits in front of the computer
presses various buttons –> commands!
an alphabet appears, then another and another
thousands, nay millions appear
race along the screen (and behind it) and disappear
They are all his slaves
living in a different world
at his beck and call…
…or perhaps…
he is a slave of all of them

© Sunil Rajguru

Give a lot of love and
you get a lot in return
Give a lot of love and
you get nothing in return
Give a little hate and
you get a lot in return
Give a lot of hate and
there’s nothing left to return
Give a little happiness and
you get a lot in return
Give a lot of happiness and
you have nothing more to give
Give a little sadness
and you get a lot in return
Give a lot of sadness
and you get a lot of emptiness in return

© Sunil Rajguru