the muse

the muse

ah the muse

always the muse

spoke

silence is sin

it said

who is it that

has not sinned

i cynically asked

all have

came the reply

then why not sin

and be silent

for, it said again

the time to be silent

has passed

and the first stone

has to be cast

sinner or saint

all have to now

stand up and

be counted

then i’d rather be

counted

in those who

sinned twice

and silent remained

for they who speak

are stoned

by those who don’t

 

the muse shrugged

raised an eyebrow

sulked and said

remembered are those

who speak, not those

who don’t

ah quote material

my utterances are not

quipped i, smiling

sure i had

the better of it now,

but the muse

being the muse

had more to say

recall a day to live

against a hundred lived

ah the one who the

keeper of the throne

of delhi had named

his pet for,

consider this

the words

and the name

you remember

mused the muse

and so many more

i can recount

but now if you will

let me fade

and with that

 

the muse faded

as it was

a concept put in place

by the muse of muses

leaving me

to inward look

ponder

think

muse

what if

my voice is that

which will

evoke and awake

the multitude

and in doing so,

will to be lost,

be too great a price

or will silence

be its own reward?

and inside reared

another muse its head

and said

even in shackles

the lips are free

the choice is yours

to let groans escape

or praise his being

speak the truth

or curse your luck

for either way

the end will be

the same

a stroke of the guillotine

outwardly

or inwards

slow or quick

and i shuddered.

and the muse rose

smiled and said

choices

and faded, leaving

my mind undecided

for now or forever

sinner that i am

to sin again

in silence.

somewhere at the back on my mind perhaps faiz ahmed faiz reciting ‘bol kay lab azad hain teray,’ and maybe the zardari interview in which even i as a layman unlettered in statesmanship could see though the untruths, and felt sorry to have to bear the wrath of the gods for making us such that we deserve rulers like these. but whatever, the sadness that we are the silent majority who do nothing but repeatedly sin the sin of remaining silent remains foremost.

 

january 8, 2012

12:10 – 19:30 hours

 

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