Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Kunwar Narain

As Usual

As usual
this time also
the police reached the place
much after the incident
so that they could record what
the eye-witnesses said. But

except for a heap of ashes
and charred bodies
there were no witnesses

    the old and the young
    who had built the pyre
    with such frenzy
    and had lit the fire –
    the killers who had fed the flames
    with helpless victims and danced . . .

Where did it happen? . . . In this country.
Why does it happen in any country?
In Belsen – Biafra – Belchi – Vietnam –
                Bangladesh –

AS USUAL

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As Usual

As usual
this time also
the police reached the place
much after the incident
so that they could record what
the eye-witnesses said. But

except for a heap of ashes
and charred bodies
there were no witnesses

    the old and the young
    who had built the pyre
    with such frenzy
    and had lit the fire –
    the killers who had fed the flames
    with helpless victims and danced . . .

Where did it happen? . . . In this country.
Why does it happen in any country?
In Belsen – Biafra – Belchi – Vietnam –
                Bangladesh –

As Usual

As usual
this time also
the police reached the place
much after the incident
so that they could record what
the eye-witnesses said. But

except for a heap of ashes
and charred bodies
there were no witnesses

    the old and the young
    who had built the pyre
    with such frenzy
    and had lit the fire –
    the killers who had fed the flames
    with helpless victims and danced . . .

Where did it happen? . . . In this country.
Why does it happen in any country?
In Belsen – Biafra – Belchi – Vietnam –
                Bangladesh –
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Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
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VDM
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