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The Last Verse

by Kakuli Nag
(Kolkata, West Bengal, India)

When did we sleep so deep, can anyone remember?

It took a pandemic to wake us up from slumber

I now pick my battles to lend and raise my voice

Education, health, climate or housing - tough choice

I now see their resilience and mental strength

As they decide to walk, the entire length

I now realize what apparently seems desperate

Is one mighty effort not to give up to fate

As we live comfortably in homes they built

How we fail them triggers a sense of guilt

While our heated conversations will continue

Some let them die down and others still argue

What have we meted out to them as a nation?

Pampering personal egos while giving out ration?

Sensational stories for leading media houses?

Fodder for both - government and who opposes ?

Twitter war and petty politics - the new normal

Virtual chats and small talk - being formal

How the young mother with a few months old child

Sat out, between train compartments running wild

If she even tried to move a strand of hair

From her face, lives lost without a minute to spare

The tired child sleeping on a moving trolley

A pack of biscuit make a few kids jolly

Just one bag is allowed to be carried

The survival kit stays and books are buried

These glimpses will return and forever haunt

While the Insta users find new ways to flaunt

Zoom parties, Webinars, FB lives in full swing

New digital , funky ways to do their own thing

As the economic inequality now stares at you,

And the prominent digital divide glares at you

I now ask why did we sleep, can anyone remember?

It took a virus to wake us up to their potential number!