Corona

Vo jo meri maiyat pe ro rahe the Agar uth jau to chain se jine nahi dete hai — Unknown 

Rone se rokte the Vakt   

Door se ansu to ponch nahi pate the na                                   

 Mazhab alfas mai nahi mayne mai hota hai                         

  Vahi Noorani chehre vahi fasle hai                                     

Vahi ishq zade hai vahi dil tute hai                                    

Taro se likhdu tera nam asman pe                                  

  Janab jannat kare intzar ma ke dwar pe

Parul Khakkar’s poem translated into English by Salil Tripathi

Don’t worry, be happy, in one voice speak the corpses

O King, in your Ram-Rajya, we see bodies flow in the Ganges

O King, the woods are ashes,

No spots remain at crematoria,

O King, there are no carers,

Nor any pall-bearers,

No mourners left

And we are bereft

With our wordless dirges of dysphoria

Libitina enters every home where she dances and then prances,

O King, in your Ram-Rajya, our bodies flow in the Ganges

O King, the melting chimney quivers, the virus has us shaken

O King, our bangles shatter, our heaving chest lies broken

The city burns as he fiddles, Billa-Ranga thrust their lances,

O King, in your Ram-Rajya, I see bodies flow in the Ganges

O King, your attire sparkles as you shine and glow and blaze

O King, this entire city has at last seen your real face

Show your guts, no ifs and buts,

Come out and shout and say it loud,

“The naked King is lame and weak”

Show me you are no longer meek,

Flames rise high and reach the sky, the furious city rages;

O King, in your Ram-Rajya, do you see bodies flow in the Ganges?