A DEATH DEFYING BAT...

Courtesy & CR to Purna Naik

Condemned to the dark,
a nocturnal I am!
stumbling in shadows,
whom do I blame?

They scripted my destiny,
long before I was born,
they told me to obey,
their age-old norm.

Darkness is my 'fate',
so they say,
only the twice-born get,
warmth of the supple sun-rays.

I always flew in night,
minding their view,
what was this 'sun'?
never I knew.

Today, when the dawn was upon,
I flew for the sky,
and saw a shining star,
that almost blinded my eye.

Then it dawned upon me,
that the 'fate' was a lie,
that the sun belongs to me,
so does the open sky.

Look! the dawn is still in horizon,
and for a handful of sun,
for a fistful of skies,
for an eyeful of dream,
for a soulful of joy,
for an armful of earth,
for a mouthful of self-respect,
If need be, I shall fight,
If need be, I shall defy death and eternally fly...