Aju Mukhopadhyay

Structural Violence

Ten proud faces beamed
in the slave media:
World’s richest chairmen of companies-
all worth several billion $
arranged in descending order.
The same media on the same day
while the Sun shines to make hay,
published stories
of the bizarre mud cookies
doing the rounds among the poor kiddies
and others, desperate to stave off hunger in Haiti:
‘when my mother does not cook any thing’,
says a poor sibling,
‘I eat them 3 times a day.’
Rickety, they die in hundreds
as in Africa, exploited for years, degraded.

In a computerized world
with a technological hype and commercial fair
with explicit understanding among the players
to exclusively exploit the market share,
to speculate in the share market;
degrading the earth, water and sky
enjoying the resources everywhere
the successful ones are always victorious.

Is it not a structural violence
against the naïve, innocent children of the earth?
Shall we offer hurrah to the rich for their mirth?
Beg on behalf of the poor for their munificence?
Does the whole structure not require
overhauling or demolition with fire
to rebuild a new structure for all?