Leave Them

Based on Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Swadeshi’ song, ‘যে তোরে পাগল বলে’)

The ones that call you mad,

Leave them, and don’t retaliate back,

The people that hurl insults at you,

Leave them, and don’t fight back.

Today, people will throw stones,

Mistaking you for some insect,

But, tomorrow, they shall surely

garland you as a hero – so leave them.

The people calling you insane,

Leave them, and don’t face them back,

The persons thinking you unworthy,

Leave them, and don’t fight back.

Today let them sit,

On their shadowy, soft, ornate cushion,

Thinking they are superior,

To all inferior beings,

However, some day,

They will come down to you,

With love bobbing up in hearts,

And falling prostate at your feet,

Will beg for your kindest mercy.

My friend, leave them,

Those who have called you mad,

For surely – someday – they’ll understand

their fault in thy stars...

***

M.Macabre

15.08.2020

Dedicated to:  Rabindranath Tagore, D.P.D.