Tuesday 27 November 2012

Cricket In The Street




My son is dead; will you speak at his funeral?
He was a bright boy, always smiling
And he spent his spare time playing
Cricket in the street.
“I will be a great player,” he told me, many times
“I will play for the country – win the World Cup
And people will see me on TV
All over the world.
You’ll come to see me play, won’t you?”
He’d ask, and smile when I ruffled his hair in reply.

That smile! He was so self-conscious
Of the gap where his milk teeth fell out.
“My teeth will grow again, won’t they?
Otherwise I’ll look so bad
When I’m on TV, with the World Cup in my arms.”
He was curious, too, asking questions
What is that, why is this, when will tomorrow come
On the other side of the world.
But he won’t do any of that again.

I can see through this window, this little opening
Onto the world, children playing
Cricket in the street. And tears blurring my eyes
Tell me almost, that I can see him among them
Running, shouting, waving his arms
But he won’t do that again.
I’d thought to love him through the years
See him grow, see him glow
And now he lies in the next room, cold
And I can’t even see him play
Cricket in the street.

My son is dead, will you speak at his funeral?
Will you come to see him laid to rest
In his burial shroud? Who has the greater right?
You made him as he is now – like God’s hand.
If it was not for you, not for the drone you sent
The drone you sent, in your wisdom, in your power
Which sent metal shredding through his little body
I would not be burying him today
And he would be outside, playing
Cricket in the street.



Copyright B Purkayastha 2012

2 comments:

  1. I couldn't read this very emotional and sad poem without feeling tears rolling down my face... I sincerely hope this is simply fiction...

    ReplyDelete

Full comment moderation is enabled on this site, which means that your comment will only be visible after the blog administrator (in other words, yours truly) approves it. The purpose of this is not to censor dissenting viewpoints; in fact, such viewpoints are welcome, though it may lead to challenges to provide sources and/or acerbic replies (I do not tolerate stupidity).

The purpose of this moderation is to eliminate spam, of which this blog attracts an inordinate amount. Spammers, be warned: it takes me less time to delete your garbage than it takes for you to post it.

Proceed.