Under the lost roof of their house,
four sons, three daughters and a widow
await the July sun to dry their soaked skin.
The dead father lies scattered as ash.
Their roof collapsed like a dead cow.
The Rain God sends the showers
equally on the poor and rich.
**
A hundred thousand people
pushed by irritation and faith
walk for hours for a glimpse
a momentary halt before their deity.
The patron of the temple,
a millionaire CEO,
flies in a helicopter
and spends an hour with the Idol.
**
Even Gods seek money
for constructing temples worth visiting!
Maybe poor people have more use for faith,
but isn’t it, always paid for, by the rich?
Indian Literature | Indian Review Author | Vivek Sharma‘s first book of verse The Saga of a Crumpled Piece of Paper (Writers Workshop, Calcutta, 2009) was shortlisted for Muse India Young Writer Award 2011. His work in English appears in Atlanta Review, Bateau, Poetry, The Cortland Review, Muse India, Reading Hour among others while his Hindi articles and verses appear in Divya Himachal (Hindi newspaper, India), Himachal Mitra and Argala. Vivek grew up in Himachal Pradesh (Himalayas, India), and moved to the United States in 2001. Vivek is a Pushcart nominated poet, is published as a scientist and he lives and teaches in Chicago.
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