I dedicate the twin poems from my book Nature at my Doorstep (2011) with lots of admiration, love and prayers to the living legend Irom Shormila who has been fasting from the year 2000 onwards fighting for her people’s freedom.
To Irom Shormila
Your sacrifice to redeem a people
Surviving persecution fills me with pride
To be part of the same humanity.
Yet it shames me – a passive witness
To your torture of body and soul
For a cause so noble.
Separated by geographical distance
I cling on to your invisible hand
Empathizing with your struggle.
A smouldering volcano,
Strengthening you,
Expressing my solidarity -
So that our sisters and brothers
Soon taste the air of freedom
And live without fear.
Latha prem Sakhya
To Live Freely
What can I do for my people?
Greatest love in the world-
Sacrificing your life for your friend.
This is my way of showing love!
Dying inch by inch to change stone hearts.
What else can a frail creature like me do?
This, I see as my destiny!
Some one will see me!
Some one will hear me!
After twenty-eight dormant years
I live vibrantly now
For a mute people.
Ten wintry years - yellow leaves
Falling silently,
Wrought no changes.
I brushed not my teeth
In fear that a drop of water
Be swallowed to defeat the cause.
My body and soul dedicated
To ensure freedom for my people
To fearlessly survive the iron rod of the oppressor.
Latha Prem Sakhya
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