Misery befalls no one
because of a coward
Riots break out nowhere
because of a coward
Nothing gets destroyed
because of a coward
A coward
does not draw his sword
or aim it at a tree
to check its sharpness
Why, a coward has no sword
to begin with
A coward
causes no one to feel fear
A coward
fears darkness
Songs come forth from him
Nature welcomes
a coward
He doesn바카라t pinch away a leaf
or pluck a flower
Nature embraces
a coward
A mother gathers a terrified child
and suckles it
Nature garlands
a coward
For he steps out only
to feed himself
He stays in and
keeps out of trouble
A coward
also finds it hard
to stay confined
He keeps cleaning up
nooks and corners
You won바카라t find a coward
in a playground
He never rouses crowds
into hateful nationalist frenzy
A coward
joins no political party,
abides by no ideology,
and is loyal to no leader
A coward
cannot prepare a welcome flyer
he cannot pour milk over big banners
he simply cannot whistle, prance about,
and go out in processions
A coward
steals from no one
He doesn바카라t stop those
who come to take away his things
A coward
does not attempt to rape anyone
He is also unable to look in stealth
at anyone바카라s body
A coward
never turns into a murderer
However
he thinks about suicide
And does it, too
바카라 Perumal Murugan
(This is the title poem of Perumal Murugan바카라s new book of 200 poems, Oru Kozhaiyin Paadalkal, translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan. We offer this also as a tribute to the Madras High Court, which 바카라resurrected바카라 the dead writer and upheld freedom of expression.)
