Erasure
(A poem by Nabina Das, from 'Sanskarnama: Poetry for our times', read by the author)
Take an eraser. See the damage
in the name of corrections. A swipe
to unthinkingness.
Take a white page. Slowly blow
out the black letters – some
anyway hang by
their cursive tendrils – from
the whiteness.
A little green a little torn.
I’m talking of books and histories
our heads full of winter’s tales.
I’m talking of children’s faces
that have forgotten our justice songs.
Take the darkest ink and blot the days
Take a pinch of our existence and see
how erasure becomes a norm
***
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