Easy
Death is easy to pronounce.
He deserved to die.
They ought to be shot.
Hanging’s too good for him.
The words fall glib.
Throw-away lines
sentencing them to death.
Distant observer,
you speak without guilt, or fear
of misplaced allegiances.
You just need something to say,
that’s all.
The right sentiment, rightly declared
whichever way your loyalties blow
in the gust of the smoke-filled air.
A country burns.
The death-dealers deserved to die, you say.
Death is easy to pronounce.
It’s the smell of burning children that’s hard.
Gustave Doré, 'Pierrot Grin' / Wikiart
Sugar
The sugar on the tongue
the poison in the eye
shedding sweetly the venomous tears.
The prayer on the lip
the gun on the hip
marking zealously the blood-fresh map.
The bread trucks in front
the battle tanks behind
rolling deftly the bitter pummelled land.
The dove on the sleeve
the hawk in the heart
calling clearly the faithful to arms.
The flag on the mast
the shovel in the dust
digging deeply the glorious stolen gold.
The stride in the foot
the fist on the jaw
breaking swiftly the face of the earth.
Sampurna Chattarji is a poet, fiction-writer and translator with 14 books to her credit, the latest being Space Gulliver: Chronicles of an Alien (HarperCollins, 2015). These poems are part of ICF's unfolding Citizens against War series of literature and art, initiated in the spirit of listening: to our poets, artists, fellow citizens, against war and warmongering.
'Easy' first published in 100 Poets Against the War ed. Todd Swift, Salt Publishing UK, 2003 and featured in the documentary film Voices in Wartime, 2004. 'Sugar' first appeared here.
