Sakura Talks Back

This poem is a critique of Masashi Kishimoto's famous manga Naruto where he showed Sakura, the deuteragonist, as a weak and feeble character though the character got it's due in the later part of the series. Even though she was shown as a strong woman in later representations it doesn't give any fan or any person to misrepresent women as weak, feeble or painting them with stereotypes. So here's a critique of all that male chauvinism that went in the creation of the famous Naruto. This is also a response to Nitoo Das's poem on Geeta Dutt.



Like the cherry pink blossoms

You thought I was fragile

So that you could bend me

Twist me, crush me, destroy me

Kishimoto, I’m not the fragile one.

I’m more than my name

I destroy, kill, make and carve

I’m the destroyer and the creator

I store life within me, I heal

Kishimoto, I’m not a useless woman

When villages were torn by violence

When wars disrupted lives of the people

When darkness prevailed and hope faded

I poured light with my life

Kishimoto, I’m Tsunade’s shadow

I’m not a gentle breeze

I’m not a timid flower

I’m not a spring blossom

I’m not a pure woman

Kishimoto, I’m a tornado

When your main man was falling

When “strong men” were dying

When children were maimed

When citizens were being killed

Kishimoto, I protected them

You painted me dumb

You painted my lesser than

Your useless main man

Your vile, twisted misconceptions

Kishimoto, is like a castle of glass

You underestimated my strength

You mocked my inabilities

Painted me with deception

Glossed me with stereotypes

Kishimoto, I’ll fight back

I'm not the white flower

I'm not the gentle Sakura

I'm not a humble tree

A boisterous cactus I've always been

Kishimoto, I'll prick you 

But one thing’s for sure

I’ll listen no more

To the slurs and abuses

I’ll make myself known

Kishimoto, your glass castle is done for

And so it rained

Thunderbolts photographed my birth
and I descended like an answered prayer
made your dust smell
like heaven


but soon it became messy
like a kid's diaper
the pitter-patter and splashes
became like the conversation starters
of guests who had outstayed their welcome


Puddles peeped out like innocent eyes
of street urchins
inviting you out to play.
Now, two kids can provide
leisure social work
but too much is a gang.
Best stay        away

You ask for rain
but forget to specify how much.
Clouds are not omniscient vendors
and each drop is a ray.

The little streams,
frivolous babysitters
who won't let me seep through
but whirl me around
then drop me down
sewers.

Response to Nitoo Das's 'March Wind'

The whiff of the wind reminded her of something
From the beginning this one thing was clear.
For her March was a month unlike the others.
Maybe a month of love, of pain or of fear.
It was the March wind that brought back her memories.
Sweet as honey, bitter as hemlock
The wind hit her and reminded her of everything.
Leaving her mind in a block.
For others it might be the wind of comfort.
Of fruit and flower bearing season.
But to her it bought a whirl of emotions
Twirling in her mind, driving her out of reason.
The questions of her past that once haunted her.
The ones that seemed unsolvable.
They could all be answered now, that too well within reason
Maybe that's what made this march wind so impossible.

I can't feel exactly what she does.
But now march wind seems different to me too
Now different emotions run fast through my bloodstream
As past me caressingly it blew.

brief encounter

you let your hair fall
on my collar bone
your lips print flowers

your skin is salt andsilk crumpled roughlystretched taut into glass    

we map our bodies
the hollows of pain
the crests of pleasure

we steal a little
bit of each other
to squander next time

Political Poem

Idealistic and naïve were we

Grew up listening to and mimicking hollow shouts of

“Government of the people,

for the people

and by the people.”

Little did we know what it meant then,

And now our cynical laugh

tries to cover up the broken,

the loss, the hopeless void

that is an inescapable part of us.

We the people are just

the rage, the frustration,

the vulnerability,

the exploited, the demoralised

But we have never known nor will we ever be

a part of this mythical government,

which was of, for and by the people

Love Poem

Sweetheart!

Before all the forged vows that you shall take,

Let me warn you of all the veiled dangers for my love sake.

Though autumn blooms in our garden of love;

There will soon be clouds that hover above.

So Darling I tell you this so you don’t lose hope,

The deceptive roses and intricacy that you have to cope.

I hope you know that beauty is only skin deep,

For all that superficial you love is nothing but weak.

There will be days I will take you by surprise;

But all the irksome days will make you wonder if you have wedded the right wife!

Though beauty can wither with age and time,

My soul will always love you right.

I know there will always be prettiness around;

So spare me the days I become timid of losing you to the crowd.

There will always be reasons to walk away,

When conversations become hard or miles apart we lay.

Remember the reasons why we took this risk;

Because only love will last even when the lust will end.

The negatives will make you want to walk off;

The generation we belong to gets bored in the short span of a cough.

Let time and patience play its role,

When we sound absurd to each other or insecurities take a toll.

Days that I will be warm and cozy, times I cook,dance and love you to no end..

Never take it for granted, for there will be days I will be fanatical with tantrums and taunts that are not really meant.

You will encounter the silly anger and frustration.

I haven’t changed honey! they are the phases of life and their variations.

May we never forget the small things we did while courting each other.

To make this forever exciting will require a few surprises and some effort.

Never lose that youthful spirit  that had made you bend down not caring of the people who looked.

May we always find time to lose our minds like the first time that we had hooked.

More than a lover may I always be your best friend;

The one you want to reveal all your secrets or talk about the scores of your favorite match at length.

Our work and career  may change places in the priority chart.

But let love inspire us to work even more hard;

Let us never make them the reasons for strolling away

From achieving our individual dreams, may we never sway.

To learn and explore together will always be the aim;

Like toddlers to school may we grow up each day with no societal shame.

Money is transient, it will come and go;

Let not gifts and luxuries define our relationship goals.

What will last is this relation and memories that we will cherish;

When we are sitting in the backyard where my carnations flourish .

Let us be the pillar of strength for one another;

The anti depressant that will make it easy to go further.

When our bodily organs have given up on us;

A loss of sight , sound when to the bed we sulk.

Let us experience oblivion that we are old;

To rejoice the time we have left on this earth untold.

A second childhood, embarrassing moments like the time we may wet our pants;

Let us happily serve each other ,make it hard for the pain to take its stand.

Babe its sad how we will not depart as souls together;

But may the one left behind not be weakened or bound by the fetter.

Love is selfless it will for sure be happy to see you move on.

Even if it means letting you go and the heart is piercingly torn.

May you nurture as a person and make me more proud.

We will raise a toast to the years together ;

No matter how distant ,imagine the “I love you” that I would always shout.

Pain

Sometimes the tears won’t fall,

Deceiving you into feeling invincible,

Sometimes they won’t stop,

It’s cruel, excruciating, unbearable.

What happens when you smile through it?

Does that make you cold, cynical or simply unaware?

No, it’s none of the above,

It’s just easier to pretend that it didn’t matter,

That you just didn’t care.

But I guarantee that smiling mask will soon crumble,

It’s bound to one day,

Then you’ll be forced to look at your feelings,

They won’t be willing to be kept locked away.