Victim Was Killed, Justice Too Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

O shy maiden, cooking a time-torn dish,
You sail on high seas, always far from beach,
Ensconced in thine lofty principled niche,
When arrive, is not it too late to reach?

I feel thine conscience is still alive,
Ye show lady justice blind. But she's lame.
Stays and delays her single most ill-fame,
What good, in two decades should she arrive?

If there be wrong that whole world has well seen,
The court it seems is not satisfied still,
No crime leaves confession, nor yet signed will,
Time, justice contemplates and looks within.

A victim of justice is good as killed,
But there's one more— whole legal edifice,
And the system, with bureaucracy filled,
And true victim is the very justice.

Ye bank too much on the letter of law,
But letter's fine if it carries spirit,
Blindfolded, justice can still be in awe,
Too much process makes justice no more fit.

Thine chairs sticky seem of privileges,
Ready to threaten with contempt of court,
Lofty chairs too serve public on wages,
No one need sit in an isolate fort.

And here the courts woke up by public noise;
I wish it'd kept its own alarm warnings,
But was reposed on procedural poise,
When stirred it walked when should fly on all wings.

Let courts rid old baggage, all the vain load,
It should still run, let jagged get the rough road.
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The killers of Jessica Lall virtually walked away free. Let's not blame just the powerful and rich perpetrators of the crime. The real culprit here seems to be our legal and judicial system, and the law enforcers. She scarce is the only victim. The true Victim is justice itself. Victim, is our collective conscience as well, and our collective heart hardening fast.
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Happenings | 02.02.06 |