Pay Back Time | Dilip Mohapatra

Have you paid back
the blood debt
that you owe
to the oozing stigmata
that refuse to dry up
and for the unconditional
blessings and
heavenly grace
that are bestowed
on you from the day
you were born?

Have you paid back
the blood debt
that you owe
to the seed that
implanted you in
the womb
and to the placenta
that fed your foetus
and pumped blood
in your veins
till you saw
the light of the day?

Have you paid back
your blood debt
that you owe to
your guru
like Eklavya
did in severing
off his thumb
and vowed
not to lift up the bow
ever again
or like Arjuna
fighting the evil
and drawing blood
in the battle?

Have you paid back
your blood debt
that you owe to
those who
laid their lives for you
and killed for you
those who
drew their daggers
to stab and skewer
and had blood
on their hands for you?

Have you paid back
your blood debt
that you owe
to the elements
that you massacred
ruthlessly
relentlessly
over the years
and to an
asphyxiated
and denuded world
that weeps blood
day in
and day out?

Dilip Mohapatra a retired navy veteran, currently he is the Chief Mentor and Strategic Advisor to KIIT University, Bhubaneswar. He lives with his wife in Pune. His poems have appeared in various international and national literary journals. This poem is from the poetry collection called A Pinch of Sun that has been published by Authorspress, New Delhi.