Classic Poem

When did the ant develop a taste for the news?
Or did it always nurse it within?
Crawling along the newspaper spread
on the floor, it devours each letter
of news, first the big headlines of national mourning
later the medium-sized bride-burning bit
and those who slit each other’s throats
for a dime, and then the small fonts
of suicide, missing persons etc . . .
Thus polishing off each item,
the ant has left.

The paper’s blank now
like the pale cheeks of a pregnant woman
who died for want of blood
Roll it up now and see
the stars at the end of the tube
or place it to your ear and hear
somebody digging a trench somewhere faraway

Place it between your lips
and play the flute
or if you so wish, abandon it
in the bamboo forest nearby

Now the only fear is,
where is the ant
and where is the trail of blood at its feet?

[From: Neelimale
Publisher: Patrike Prakashana, Bangalore, 1997]