Nalini Priyadarshni writes

Love in Times of Intolerance

 

After ample poison has been spewed

we are rebuked for not being tolerant enough

for exposing our armpits that reek with dismay

when our bloodied hands fly to cover our gaping mouths  

to company they offer tea with faces writhed in spurious smiles

who might get offended by underbelly we mirror 

 

Seen maybe, but never heard

marginal have no business to nurse opinions

sniffing dissent at the door of our refrigerators

they manufacture truth in dark alleys that

arrives at our doorstep on yellow fliers next morning

where addled mob wait for us to swallow it right away

or pay the price of regurgitating it on the sidewalk

 

Juggling irreverent verses in your pocket

you incite me to churn out some of my own

by shoving a handful of yours down my neckline

They slither down like ice cubes and leave a puddle on my lap

making me squirm with pleasure and grow audacious

regret of unspoken won’t be my nemesis

 

When there is nothing more to be said

we hold hands listening intently to silence

broken occasionally with crackling of my sinews

as you seep in and around my bones

to intertwine with my marrow  

There will be no turning back from here

 

TV does not distract us now

with its inane political diatribe

It’s just some background sound

We refuse to give in to the fear

that this world will come to an end

before we have run out of silences