The Dharker Side of Life

I remember having this poem (After Creation) by Imtiaz Dharker tacked in my room as long as a decade or so ago. Makes even more sense these days (to me,atleast!)

After Creation
-Imtiaz Dharker

You would think
after all the trouble of Creation,
that things would know their place.

Forget the Garden and the Fall.
Just take all the ordinary things,
the locks and bolts,
the bits of wood,
pieces of tin and plastic,
scraps of food,
the dogs and children,
bicycle wheels,
jars and pots and pumps,
half-pants on a line,

anti-aircraft guns, policemen’s
boots and belts, the calendar
full of gods, gas
cylinders, bars of soap.

I had hoped
these things would
work themselves
into some kind of order.

When I began
it was a simpler world.

Things, perhaps, got out of hand.
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A Woman’s Place
- Imtiaz Dharker
Mouths must be watched, especially
if you’re a woman. A smile
should be stifled with the sari-end.
No-one must see your serenity cracked,
even with delight.

If occasionally you need to scream, do it
alone but in front of a mirror
where you can see the strange shape the mouth makes
before you wipe it off