Everybody Knows

Everybody knows
That everything in Ayodhya
Is imaginary

Imaginary
That mosque
Which was demolished

Those images
Were just meant for
Some famous film

That was an
Afternoon nap
A sort of a confused dream
Or a snore

Whose noise washed away
The faintly sad cracking sound
Of those arches
While domes crashed down slowly
In some black and white blur

 

Translated from Hindi by Tarun Bhartiya

Raiot

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Asad Zaidi Written by:

Asad Zaidi, born in Karauli (Rajasthan), has lived in Delhi for the last 35 years. He has three books of poems: Behnen aur anya kavitaen (1980 & 2008), Kavita ka jivan (1988), and Saman ki talash (2008) and has edited a number of collections including Das Baras: Hindi kavita Ayodhya ke bad (2003). His interests extend to education, literary criticism and occasional social commentary. He is the founder of Three Essays Collective, an independent publishing house.

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