Return of a Slain Man

by Sunil Sharma / December 9th, 2018

That guy Khashoggi is back—from the dead!
Lazarus-like, surfacing from the Underworld.
The killers never thought the dead can walk again so easily— alive, re-charged, re-animated!
Jamal Khashoggi has remarkably done that reverse journey to the world of living.
The ghost of the slain journalist-dissident is out of the consulate in Istanbul and seeking justice.
The royalty is in jeopardy.
The veteran killers gloated over a murder most foul. Dismembered the body and interned the severed parts in the compound of the embassy—as per the media reports.
The power-drunk killers went about their job blatantly, fearing none.
One guy vs. the System!
Dissidence—high threat to monarchy and totalitarian regime everywhere!
The order was carried out methodically—a life snuffed out—for raising inconvenient questions.
For resisting the arbitrary power!
Solitary voice against the ruling elite.
Everything was consigned to dust. Buried.
A citizen murdered!
Trust betrayed!
Then
appears the specter of a
helpless man in that diplomatic house and a
haunting begins.
Now, the ghost is asking for their blood and retribution.
Like a driven character in Gogol, walking the nightly streets, chasing an overcoat.
The insulated regime is shaking.
Certain haunting can be disruptive!
They prove fatal in every age
and become a game-changer, forever!
Beware of such killings, mighty lords
The day of reckoning is near!

Sunil Sharma is Toronto-based senior academic, critic, literary editor and author with 23 published books: Seven collections of poetry; four of short fiction; one novel; a critical study of the novel, and, nine joint anthologies on prose, poetry and criticism, and, one joint poetry collection. He is a recipient of the UK-based Destiny Poets’ inaugural Poet of the Year award---2012. His poems were published in the prestigious UN project: Happiness: The Delight-Tree: An Anthology of Contemporary International Poetry, in the year 2015. Sunil edits the English section of the monthly bilingual journal Setu published from Pittsburgh, USA. For more details, please visit here Read other articles by Sunil, or visit Sunil's website.

This article was posted on Sunday, December 9th, 2018 at 8:01am and is filed under Poetry.