Justice For All
by Gopal Lahiri / September 15th, 2024
When they say, do you know this body?
Say yes and no.
When they say, who has raped and killed this girl
Tell them you are trying to remember something
It’s too important to forget.
When someone recognize your blood stained hands?
You snooze and become a soothsayer.
When someone says your presence at the crime spot?
Say it’s all lies.
When they say, come and join the protest march
think before you answering.
and hide behind the screen.
Then decide what to do with your time.
Then appear at the door and come out singing
all your new songs,
Justice for all-
A few words are again looking for meaning.
They will never catch you up.
Gopal Lahiri is a bilingual poet, critic, editor, writer and translator with 29 books published, including eight solo/jointly edited books. His poetry and prose are published across more than seventy journals and anthologies globally. His poems are translated in 16 languages. He has been nominated for Pushcart Prize for poetry in 2021. He has received Setu Excellence Award, Pittsburgh, US, in poetry. He is the first recipient of. Jayanta Mahapatra National Award for Literature, 2024.
Read other articles by Gopal.
This article was posted on Sunday, September 15th, 2024 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.
