The Devil Within Poem by Swapan Deep Singh

THE DEVIL WITHIN


I am a person of ideals and principles, he says;
And a true human being, he says.
And he drives back home in a hurry,
Crosses the signal so red,
Rebukes a cyclist riding slow,
Parks his car in no park zone,
And walks to the doorway, ‘all alone’.

I am a kind person, he says;
Polite in speech and thoughts, he says.

Meets his maid servant in the kitchen,
And does he complain of what all she’s not done;
Ignores what she has, what she ever has.

Comes to his room, oh there is the mirror;
Pride and glee, overflowing.
Oh yes! He is a higher ‘caste’;
Oh yes! He is ‘born’ so ‘rich’
He is not like that ‘dirty’ maid servant,
Who is an absolute criminal;
She is a sinner for sure, oh yes! She is;
She was born a lower ‘caste’, had meagre means;
What more a crime! What more a sin!

I am a ‘just’ man, he says;
All humans are ‘equal’ and same as ‘me’, he says

And then the TV, switch it on;
Oh! He likes her, likes her a lot;
Oh! He wants her, though fantasy it seems.

I love my wife a lot, he says
She’s the only woman on my mind, he says.

And oh please! Do believe him,
Coz he is so honest, so proud, not shy;

And then he sleeps, the next day is here

I am a person of ideals and principles, he says;
And a true human being, he says.

The ‘he’ is ‘me’.
The ‘he’ is ‘you’.
The ‘he’ is ‘we’.
And there is a devil within.



Swapan Deep Singh Nagpal
April 2009