More Poems from "Justice under detention"

‘Justice under detention’ is an interesting compilation of poems, which are written in various themes.
The social awareness and firm commitment of the poet is expressed powerfully. Satire is the primary technique, which helps poets of Selvaganapathy’s kind.He is describing our country, as a refugee camp.everywhere there are bombings, terrorists and political murders. So the under-privileged loose their belongings and run for shelter.If we take a tour throughout the country then we will also agree the poet’s view.

Refugee Camp

These people are
Not from any alien country
They belong to this soil
But they are refugees
As they are poor
Yes
IndiaIs currently
A refugee camp.

The poet thinks that nobody is really interested in the international peace and solidarity. Everybody pays mere lip service and does not seriously work to achieve it. He ridicules them as ‘Peace Brokers.’

Rituals of Peace

All countries
Are imprisoned by
Their borderlines
The whole mankind
Is bound by various divisions
Some people in the earth
Divide the majority
To gain leadership for them.
People divided
For the advantage of a few
Quarrel, fight and die as victims.
Under the surveillance of clouds
Bombshells thunder and rain.
Brokers of peace
Run hither and thither
With umbrellas havingSo many hole.
The fingers tune
With much strain
But from the fiddle
We can hear only the
Military band.
All countries
Are imprisoned by
Their borderlines
The whole mankindIs bound by various divisions

The poet has described the beauty and significance of silence in a long poem. Together with our experience we derive from this long poem many inner meanings.

A Loooooooooooooooooooong Talk about Silence

Oh Silence!
We talk much about you.
But whenever we attempt to utter
Any word about you
Our words get tired
And dropped in vain.
We belong to the language of sound.
Tongue is our podium
Sound is the toilet set
We enjoy seeing
Your drama
Which implies a thousand meanings.
You are alsoSpeaking
Like a cloud
Which rains
Without any lightning or thunder
Among the languages
You are the mostAttractive language.
Your empire is
TheBoundary of dictionary.
You are the language
Spoken by my lady- love.
That is why I wish to
Get acquainted with you.
Oh silence
You begin to speak
When ourSound symbols
Miss their meanings.
You never
Dissolve in words
But words get dissolved before you.
Some preys
Which are not caught byWord-baits
Are caught up in your net.
Meanings get suppressed
By soundLike a song
Suppressed by its background music.
You are a superb song
Which does not need any
Background music.
You are
Language of the soul which never pollutes
The meanings.
You are an easy chair
To take rest
When the sounds tire us.
You are an armchair
For the noisy words
When they want some rest.
Poets and lovers
Have their dreams only in your lap.
Our languageIs the language of
Those who speak.You are theLanguage of those who act.
We are the users of
Noisy language ruled by sound.
We damage our
Ears by various sounds.
When are we going to
Fill up our minds
With this precious thing-Silence.

The poet had taken part in agitations conducted by the Government College Teachers’ Association and had been kept under arrest for a week. When he was in Chennai Central Jail he had authored the poem titled"Justice under detention."His satire and humor are expressed in an efficient way in it.

Justice under detention

A day came
To the intellectual birds
Which never
Dreamt of Jails in their lives.
If ornaments became
Hand-cuffs
Shelters may also become Jails.
If shelters become jails
What significance
Jails do have?
Therefore
We-
Branded as intellects and
White collared people-
Came to a decision
At least in the eleventh hour
` To fill up Jails!"
What is the difference between
Living in JailsOr Outside Jails?"
Those who celebrate
Independence Day in
Pompous palacesImprisoned us.
Those who gave us recognition
Once a yearDuring Teachers’ day
Made us students
And sent us to a school.
Those who spoke about our sacrifices
Gave us another opportunity
To perform
Sacrifice once again.
They made us count the prison bars
And taught us aNew lesson.…………………..
We, Preceptors
Had been taught
Many new lessons