Colombo, Nov 2: A mentally challenged man, who jumped into the Indian ocean to escape arrest, drowned after being badly beaten up by Sri Lankan police in the water in front of a large crowd, police said. (news item)
wonder was horror-edged
and pity was guilt-edged
flotsam on our conscience
as we watched the boy
thrown into a senseless
sea swirling with violence
and as shocking anger
beat him to death
and forced him to drown
we who had watched worse
and said nothing
gazed in silence
and
a mobile phone video-recorded
footage of folly
that moment
of hideous history
prevailed
to bear witness
to a country whose
war was just over
to a people
now at peace.
the waters whirl and
the foam is still froth-white
the sun glistens still
on the golden sand
but the boy we call mad
is retreating into the ocean
still trying to hold off the blows
with batons and sticks
the last vestiges of his
strength devoured
by hatred and waves
and our humanity
strangles itself
on the shore.
