Literary Yard

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Poetry

By Chandra Shekhar Dubey

There lived an old, lanky monk
In the city of Wuhan
He had a staff and a piped gourd pitcher               
Hanging down his hump.
Once a man called Cring Pring            
Walked down his esoteric den
Greeting majestically he sat by him.
The old man greeted him with a smile
Telling many things untold in his silent smile
“What brought you here” asked the monk
With whispering lips and eyes closed.
“I want to rule the world’’ chirped
Cring Pring without any mortal delay.
“Rule the world ‘’ laughed the monk in horror    
Echoing the mystery struck with tears of terror.
Neither wars nor weapons can do it
So my counsels say…
Suggest me earnestly some novel bloodless way.
The old monk waived his matted tress in trance
Muttering unholy syllables without casting any glance.
He banged the earth thrice with his staff
Tossed the gourd pitcher in the air
Catching it before it could hit the earth’s layer

                                                                          2

Rolling his eyes thrice in circle full
Scratched its lead on the surface dull,
Unleashing the deadly weapons;
Invisible, silent and unpleasant.
As he screamed “Go, go,.kill..kill…kill”
Cring Pring ran helter skelter 
Jumping, sneezing, coughing,   
And running down temperature
Spreading his Gordian knot       
Here, there and everywhere
Infecting hundreds and thousands
Of men and women,                                             
Discriminating without    
Rich or the poor, old or the child.
The number multiplied everyday
Resulting in deaths day by day.
Then it travelled to America, Italy, Spain and Britain     
Hitting France, Iran and India.
Engulfing all continents five, one by one
So mighty and deadly was it.
It took heavy toll through touch, transmission
By weaving a deadly chain of delusion
Swallowed pride, pelf and vanity
Equally of powers super and shallow.

                                                                              3

All countries boasting of power and pelf
Tumbled down to its deadly tress,
All caught or uncaught into its deadly snares
Felled gently into locked down chambers.
No medication, no charm can cure
Of its poisonous fangs for sure.
Lockdown, lockdown buzzed TV screens
Warning all across the globe
‘Quarantine within walls’
Everyone chanted, “Stay home, Stay Safe’’
‘Break the chain, break the chain’
Without any strain.
It stalked through lanes, city highways,
Speeding its pace to malls and railways
Lofty airports and country sites.
Pulling down all closed and locked
To fight the pandemic
To bring back life to normal pace                                                                                                                                                     

To bring smile to every face.
All sang solemn song, clapping, jingling,
Chanting and lighting in unison….
Covid-19 “You shall die’’ with stifling trace.

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