DESIGN OF DEATH

You said you were grief, 
the marbled tears will not flow. 
Was it not much softer 
to accept the life 
as a design of death? 
You needed the continuity of the sorrow. 
Why were you seeking the ending? 

The visible effect was mirage, 
the guilt of genocide. 
We emptied our tatoos 
on the road, 
driving the emotions to insanity 
Everything moved towards 
the precipice, rejecting the sky. 

Sorrow was part of joy, my adversary. 
I wished to separate 
the fear from the cells. 
The pain of perennial setbacks chipped away the ladders. 
I stood there at the level 
of death, demanding rocks.

Satish Verma