Shail reviews the news of the week in verse. Bengaluru witnessed a unique rangoli protest and a warning for the CM, in the US, after Covid, a Salmonella attack was reported because of eating raw onion, Syria executed 24 people guilty of causing wildfire in forests and destroying mother nature, and a freak gunshot in a movie setup killed a person raising question about the bullet there. An exclusive for Different Truths.    

Pothole Puja

Potholed disasters waiting to happen;
a harsh reality of many cities
pepped up with technological advances
plunging headlong in slush and grime.
Financial expenses spent on roads,
not worth a dime.
Bengaluru, like many other metros,
victim of such tragedies waiting to happen
finally witnessed a different kind of protest.
With no response to the needs of the citizens
a political party drew rangoli and offered puja
to potholes and their pathetic state.
Also accompanying the unique ritual
was a deadline meted out to the chief minister
asking him to sort out the matter,
verify the 20,000-crore spent on road repair
or else, face the court in despair.

Onion Warpath

After COVID, now what?
Something else to spread rot?!
Over 650 people in the United States
Ill, many hospitalised
due to a Salmonella attack
many facing flak
in Texas and Oklahoma
as onion eaters fall sick
after consuming the reliable veggie.
Raw is what affects more, state authorities.
This batch,
what a literally sickening catch
imported from Chihuahua in Mexico,
who would think this all reliable vegetable
would see such a day
when its very name would turn people
into panic bay?
So, until further notice
keep off white, red, or yellow onions
from Mexico ProSource
letting nature take its course.

Syrian Wildfire

Wildfires, verbal or physical,
Invariably kill.
So, what better punishment,
decides Syria than use the kill bill!
Syria executes 24 guilty people
for terrorizing forests,
destroying plant life,
burning to ashes thousands of acres
that belonged to Mother Nature.
Wildfires set by cruel people
unmindful of leaves, flowers, even beetles
now face the Lord to speak
for their act of insensitivity.
Sounds cruel, I know.
But imagine a place full of life
burning for months
September to October,
It’s stated!
Roots, fruits, pollen, insects, birds-
all devastated in a burning woodland.
The punishment shall bring back not
all that has been deprived of life.
Maybe, leave a stern message behind-
to love nature, to be more kind.

Props Kill

The prop gun killed Brandon Lee.
It killed again.
‘Rust’ movie cinematographer,
Halyna Hutchins
shot accidentally by well-known actor,
Alec Baldwin
on a film set, during the shoot.
No justification for a shot gone wrong,
for a bullet that wasn’t to be there
in the first place.
How is this to be traced?
Investigations are on.
The actor cries
And someone dies.
Eerie how words uttered in the past,
‘I wonder how it must feel to wrongfully
Kill someone’ come alive?!

Reference 

1.       https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/bengaluru-aap-protests-potholes-decorates-them-with-rangoli-and-offers-puja-7583161/lite/?utm_campaign=fullarticle&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=inshorts 

2.       https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/salmonella-outbreak-over-650-fall-ill-in-us-from-disease-tied-to-onions-here-s-more-101634881279051-amp.html?utm_campaign=fullarticle&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=inshorts 

3.       https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syria-executes-24-people-over-deadly-forest-fires-2021-10-21/?utm_campaign=fullarticle&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=inshorts 

4.       https://www.latestly.com/socially/entertainment/hollywood/alec-baldwin-accidentally-kills-rust-cinematographer-while-filming-actors-2017-tweet-that-talks-about-wrongfully-killing-someone-goes-viral-2977042.html/amp?utm_campaign=fullarticle&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=inshorts

Shail Raghuvanshi

Shail Raghuvanshi is a poet, freelance journalist, copyeditor, voice actor, and artist with 30 years of experience in various media. She has worked as the Cultural Correspondent for India's first integrated media company, PLUS Channel, and has written course material for Madurai Kamaraj University's Post Graduate Programme in Advertising and Public Relations. She has also been a coach of Communicative English. She has published poems, short stories, and articles in leading magazines and anthologies.

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