NEW APARTHEID

A skylight begins the apartheid 
in ironed out differences. 
At the shores skulls have reappeared. 

Blue flames were eating away the green carbon 
of the dying giants. Fake photosynthesis 
was canning the skimmed breeze in books 

and encapsulated euthanasia was available 
over the counters. Eyeshadows were hiding 
the dying grace. Tempest would go for a classical dance 

only. Counting of heads had begun. Price hike 
of black arrows would decide the fate of a nation. 
Hunger was writ large on cheekbones of 

roaming rocks, shining the landscapes. 
The chorus spreads like eau de cologne 
over the solitude of my homeland.

Satish Verma