Leonard, Leonard with a golden voice, voice singing, singing the song of Canada, Canada in, in New York, York, the song, song of Canada! Leonard, Leonard, the song, song of love, love and sympathy and bonding! Blue, blue raincoat, blue raincoat the memory, memory to be carried far,down, down the memory lanes, lanes of heart, heart and soul, to corridors, corridors of thought and reflection!

Is it,Is it enoughTo call,Call themVictims,Rape victims,Is it,Is it enoughTo call,Call themRape,Rape victims,Are they,Are theyNot,Not our daughters,Daughters,Sisters,Sisters,Our own,Own,Only,Only just,Just women,WomenSinful,Sinful and guilty,Unchaste,Unchaste and unholy,Unholy and impureAnd characterless,Are,Are they not,Not women,WomenFull, full of the milkOf kindness,Kindness,Human,Human and motherly?And even if,Even if are,Are they the victims,Victims of rape,Treat,Treat you kindly,With so much of compassion,Love and pardon,Pardon,Can’t you,Can’t…

And he telling aboutThe temples of Orissa,Art and culture,History and languageAnd the coastal areaAnd its geography,The cities and towns of it,The anthropological villages of it.An Odia heTells he about Cuttack, Bhubaneswar,Balsore, Puri,Konark, Dhauli,The rivers, hills and forests of itAnd above all, the dark villages of itBurning in heat,Dusted and ruffled withPoverty, illiteracy, underdevelopment,Superstition, backwardness,Fatalism and…

Woodpecker-cutHair-styles,Caribbean footballersGoing with balls,Half-shaven, half-cropped,The mustache is off,The beards brushedAnd bristledOn the chin.

She is a female child.

The Pope,Pope,Alexander Pope ofIndian,Indian English poetry,Poetry not,Indian poetry in EnglishThe evolving genre,Genre of literature,I mean the Indian,Indian writers of verse,Evolving poets,A study in slender booksAnd minor voicesComing of age,Trying to strengthenTheir stature,Poetic stature,I meanThe first book writersOr with the first on the anvil,Trying to grow,Coming of age,A journey from imitationTo maturity,Parody, borrowings and influencesTo be…

What it passes on her heart,Ask,Ask her,Say you,You it not,Let her,Let her say,Say it,What this life,Life of hers has,What,What love and living has,Has?Divorcing her,Can you be happy,Happy indeed?Breaking her heart,Can you be,Be happy really?You do not try to give tears,Tears to the eyes of anyoneAs the falling teardrops spare it none,The teardrops falling from the…