white
they have no power of thundering
no water to pour
on the thirsty minds
of the gathering
confused i stood
on the stage
to avoid this awkwardness
i give a wide smile
and said
if i know anything
except poetry that is
i can defend well my religion
and my country
this i am doing since my child hood
but alas! they say
i do not belong to them
i am too liberal
my understanding does not match with
”their religion”
more they say: you do not follow
”our religion ”
the land where i am born
belongs to the people
of and from the majority community
my fellow citizens
say
though my fore fathers came to this land
like theirs
six and half century ago
if i go against the mainstream
protest against their diktat
and point out their mistakes of past and present
hold alternative views
of peace and development
i am warned
i will be labelled anti – national
will be marked illegal immigrant
forcefully they will push me where no man lives
now
i am a man
without mother land
with out name and identity
for whom till date i steal
they call me a thief
turn my blood into water
they are driving me out
the man who has no one
he has the sky
now
i do not run my roots
into the soil
instead spread them upwards
and take shelter
in a cave of a cloud
by the name of ocean
now i am the citizen
of the world