Another day, another bomb

Yesterday another half a dozen bombs went off across the city.
We're still counting the dead
Fitting together the jigsaw pieces of flesh,
Hosing down the red streets
Helped by the heavens which opened up
To add to the usual official chaos.

The news-hyenas arrived in packs
Drawn by the stench of blood and meat
To a feast of breaking news.

Nothing was new.
Nameless, faceless men giving succour
Without fanfare
To others equally anonymous.
A picture a bomb-weary city has grown used to.

For countless households
The long night has just begun.

The Nests of Nandigram

Is it my imagination
Or are there far fewer birds singing ?
What dawn do they mutely await
Through the long night of terror ?
Silence speaks of pervasive fear
And of the loss of ancestral nests.

The protector has taken an axe to the trees.
Trees fall; the earth shakes.
Raucous cries of dispossession supplant birdsong
As the khaki-clad hunters pot sitting ducks
While Zeus' swans feast on Leda's flesh.

Rejoice, my countrymen, for the prophecy has come true
-The state has indeed withered away.