Ishaan Sengupta writes

Here is a man, with the source of light through his gleaming eyes.
He has got these eyebrows, which he gets credit for.
But an individuality that he hates.
It’s society’s gaze that he resists so much.

Where he stands is a pedestal of learning,

where bookish knowledge triumphs over a burning spark.

Here is a man, with a simple grace
in a jungle of animals with confidence incensed.

How should he look into the mirror?
Like an actor with no fear?
No! The mirror crushes every time,
he stands near the glass that mocks his very being.
He’s broken, like those pieces of glass on the floor.

Sharp, vulnerable and destructive.
Harmful to oneself, and to the people close to him.

But he gains courage, honor and perseverance.
Kills the bacteria that feed on his self-created schizophrenia.
After the war has been won,

He shouts, ‘No We Don’t Get Down’.
‘No we don’t get down’, he shouted.
Now the camera did not shy away when he pouted.
Love came to him from his mother’s support.
His urge to live came to him from his girlfriend’s kindness.

A kindness he did not expect to receive.
Yet he learned to accept it without any conditions.
Until the unforgivable happened,
As she got blinded.
A blunt force trauma to her head.
By a stalker, with a want of vengeance un-quenched.

Now she’s buried there, in that garden.
with flowers surrounding her, which he and his wife planted.
He’s not broken anymore. Yes he is. But he’s not.
Because she’s taken his grief and replaced it with strength.
Strength that he uses to shout out to the world
“No We Don’t Get Down”


Broken Red Mirror [two views] --  Daniel Rozin