I am here, pondering my own so-called innocence
through the purity of having endured hatred,
exhumed from the fury of those who bleed guilt.
Those people did not seek logic, a fair judgement
towards those who would rather bury their reality.
But under the executioner’s helm, we question sentence.
Are we so naive to dismiss the sentence;
do we prefer on shrouding those who perceive innocence?
Such apparent paradox blurs distance between fantasy and reality -
- the weaker ones are enflamed, driven by hatred.
They defy, dare to question those who pass judgement -
- it appears conformity is quickly associated with guilt.
As for those whose aura is tainted with guilt,
Yet roam the empty streets - nomads wavering their sentence.
Empty vessels, scattered across the lands, this poor judgement
of judgements; fools we have become, we feign our innocence
in vain, in hope, fear; pretend that the planet’s living do not emanate hatred,
choking and corroding it – yet its endless cycle – a sign of reality.
Verily, men of knowledge who reflect know this reality.
Besmirched knowledge, the knowing is a weight of guilt,
only outweighed by the ignorance of blind hatred.
Then there are those in between, still awaiting sentence
from those who control, censor, quantify, condition this ‘innocence’,
only veiling impending burdens of truth – what judgement!
But what is the use of such divine judgement
when only a select, enlightened few will absorb its reality,
bearing fruit to the pallid orchards of innocence?
Perhaps the process is gradual, in subsistence, the guilt
of those who measure guilt by farcical sentence.
Defeat, such a familiar source of hatred.
Without doubt, it does not allow for defeat, this hatred
That seeks to burn out the planet without judgement
Yet the planet, conforming to divine system, anticipates sentence
Even if it is not, in a sense, living, it bears marks of reality
For those who dwell – so what is real guilt
Nay, not only guilt, but what is true innocence?
I witness their sustenance, true hatred. Years of reflection offers this reality.
They fear judgement, for it may cleanse them of their guilt. But
despite sentence, foreign is the destruction of true, pure innocence.
[Saqib Ali Rashid, first written 24/02/2010, current draft 01/04/2010]
