He sits atop his throne of corn,
cranium choked to bursting
with bales of inflammable hay
that for want of space sprout
upwards,
emerging from a tangerine scalp,
floating over a tangerine brow,
shielding his eyes,
from the folly of abandoning
the treaty of ’15.
Oh carnage,
Oh chaos,
Oh convoluted crime,
Halt.
Do not thunder into our lungs
at the behest of a Star Spangled Crown.
Reign in your hurricanes, your blizzards, your storms,
Soothe the seas, lull oceans into a dreamless sleep,
Cup torrents of ice within the palm of your hand,
Pacify the breathless wolves that dance
on blistered feet.
And perhaps,
when the air begins to crumble
and the rain begins to boil,
you will retreat
having finally learnt
that our albatrosses are dart boards
and greed, our cardinal sin.

We are the archers.
We are the targets.
We are the war.

And we will never win.

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About the Author

“We, as human beings, are so adept at waging wars against ourselves that we don’t need assistance from fate in destroying our planet.”

Deeksha is a 19 year old girl from the coastal town of Udupi, India. She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Media and Communication from Manipal University. There’s nothing I love more than long walks, cozy libraries and uninterrupted naps. She spends a lot of time trying to string words together in the hope of turning them into poetry.

The following is the link to her WordPress blog:

www.catalystsandpoisons.wordpress.com

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About the Illustrator

Kaveri, a student of Masters in fine arts, prevails from Chandigarh, India and specializes in print making. So creating artworks is not just a hobby. It’s a trademark of what she is and what she does. She speaks her thoughts better through her art than conversations and loves to keep things simple, yet a bit complicted. You can find more of her art on Instagram