Hush, shush
Keep your mouth shut.
With the increasing news reports,
the voices dying down.
For every orange flag raised,
a body fallen on the ground.
Hush, shush
Keep your eyes shut.
With nation’s ‘pride’ at stake.
They justify every attack.
Vigilante, Saviour, Protector, Righteous,
Say whatever, just turn your back.
Hush, shush
Keep you ears shut.
Screams in the air,
the air smells foul.
People protested, people burnt.
Slogans overshadowed the doleful howls.
Hush, shush
Keep your conscience shut;
wrap it in ignorance,
keep it clean.
There is nothing to talk about,
nothing you have seen.
Hush, shush
Not anymore
My sleeps haunted by
the screams I ignored.
Every blow by the shallow swords
cut across my blackened soul.
Every fire because I was quiet,
creeps under my skin every night.
For every attack that tortured my soul,
I won’t say quiet, not anymore.
Nandini Singh is an 18-year-old majoring in English, political science and history at Christ University, Bengaluru. Find her on Instagram and Twitter @_writerbro
Featured image credit: Fondo Antiguo de la Biblioteca de la Universidad de S/Flickr, CC BY 2.0