Poetry 2012 Longlist, Laxmi Punjabi

Similes in Pain

A spider under a rug,
like a blind man’s world. 

A rat inside its hole,
like a refugee in a terror struck nation.

A fish caught in a net,
like debt-ridden citizens.

Animals in the zoo,
like an abducted child’s condition.

A pig up for slaughter,
like a diseased patient on his death bed.

Street dogs wandering around the town,
like revolutionaries battling in the jungles.

A wide ranged desert,
like a malnourished sufferer’s stomach.

Soft toys placed in a gift shop,
like orphans craving for love.

Sheep grazing a drought land,
like beggars beseeching in every street.

A ‘touch me not’ plant placed in the corner of a garden,
like a rape victim’s plight.

Extreme thundering and floods,
like mother earth grieving for some relief.