DOVES HAD STOPPED FLYING

Somebody had put the feet 
against the flame, 
the street had become a wall. 

Commitment had failed, 
the doors were locked. 
Collective guilt was seeking favour. 

Repeating the same story 
blurs the sky. 
Sun will not come out. 

You are speaking. 
He was speaking. 
Truth was speaking. 

Solitude and silence 
come before the summary. 
I was responsible for myself. 

Earth refuses to conceive 
fire in veins. 
Doves had stopped flying.

Satish Verma