By: Ram Govardhan

Every revolt,
modest or armed, matters.
Every fight can’t placate
the plights, or restore the rights.
Every resistance can’t
turn into a revolution, or
force a coup d’état, or
upset the status quo.
At times, can’t
even scream a defiance.
At times, can’t
even prove its existence
dreading its own survival
amidst warlike gloom.

Every rebellion doesn’t
seek to give birth to a nation
or rebirth of a long-armed one.
Every protest seeks answers to
uniformly benign questions,
of dignities, of discriminations,
of subjugations, of violations,
of survivals, of freedoms.

Every clamour
sows a seed of blood, like
seeds of rice, like seeds of outcries,
sowing so many, to reap a handful,
for half a bowl of weak gruel,
to march, to persevere,
for a long haul

Every revolt lingers
whistling in the dark
sowing beads of sweat
gathering much strength
ringing alarm bells
raising the decibels
gnawing the establishment
bit by bit, grain by grain
for the reach of the officialdom
is extended, it’s resources
endless, its legalese abstruse,
its resolve demonic
and it’s ruses
myriad.

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Ram Govardhan’s short stories have appeared in Asian Cha, Open Road Review, The Literary Yard, The Bangalore Review, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Indian Ruminations, The Spark, Muse India, Nether, The Bombay Review and other Asian and African literary journals. His novel, Rough with the Smooth, was longlisted for the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize, The Economist-Crossword 2011 Award and published by Leadstart Publishing, Mumbai. He lives in Chennai. Email: ram.govardhan2010@gmail.com