By Sarah Das Gupta
(Guernica Picasso)
living jigsaw, a bewildering enigma,
human, animal flesh, impossible to distinguish.
the trash can of the world emptied out
for the future’s horror or entertainment?
the blood sport that is war,
a savage game that dismembers the players.
hands, feet, the extremities blown off,
agonised figures, splattered in darkness,
where light is dim and treacherous-
the all-seeing eye is everywhere.
Dead babies in the now useless arms
of mothers who grieve into vacancy.
hands stretch out, begging, beseeching
in a godless world whom should we pray to?
even the watchers are dragged into the carnage:
in Syria, Haiti, Ukraine, Myanmar, Gaza –
too many fingers are on the trigger.
Sarah Das Gupta is an 84- year- old writer from Cambridge, UK who has taught English in India, Tanzania and UK. Her work has been published in over 25 countries in anthologies and magazines. She started writing aged 80, following a disabliing accident which has severely limited her walking. She has been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart.
