The Poem Says It All

“Father, I wanna go with you, please let me go with you…” I cried.

These were the last words I uttered to my father when he was about to leave. I remembered somebody called and told him to go to a particular place. That time, he didn’t allow me to go with him. He just told me that it was important and kids were not allowed. I cried so hard because that was the first time he said ‘no’. He used to take me to any place he goes - anywhere. I stopped crying when he promised that he would be back immediately – a day after and would bring a toy guitar. Ironically, he did not. I waited for days but still he’s not yet in. Until we heard over the radio that he was brutally killed by armed men. I was so confused, so shocked that I couldn’t help but deny to myself that it was my father. As I can recall, I told the people when we got his dead body, “ that’s not my father, my father is handsome.” I was just a toddler then.

The memories are still fresh in my mind. When I went back to our ancestral house, I could always think about my father. How did it happen? Why did they kill him? He was a very good man. I came across an old cabinet and saw some of his documents. Most of the sheets were tattered. There was one paper that caught my attention. It was a poem. He wrote it years ago – 1977. And as I read it, I was crying silently for the poem says it all.

EPILOGUE

Here I am now.
A man with life uncertain and insecure.
Fighting all odds of political existence.
I walk with DIFFERENT SHADOWS!
And I must learn to live with them.

In this world, there are those who are oppressed.
And there are those who are persecuted
because of their outlook -
towards our social structure…
towards the "SYSTEM"

But as to whether they can endure or resist
is a matter of how unrelenting their principles are -
or how strong their convictions are.

After the SHADOWS… What?
They will never stop shadowing - till they get me.
I’ll be living soon in darkness. Behind BARS perhaps.
Or inside a cold coffin.

But all threats - all intrigues could not cow us.
As long as we are still free to move - WE WILL MOVE.
As long as we still have life - WE WILL HOPE.
Yes, we still hope for a new day’s dawn.
The dawn of our freedom. FREE from dictatorial rule.
The dawn of justice. FREE from all brutalities.

My fate? I do not know what awaits me.
I only know I must be brave.

avr/11/03/77