As melodious meadows breeding play and fun,
With music of laughter and vibrant cheer,
Woven in the rhythm of playful wins and losses,
In grounds where sorrows fear to peep in...
Don’t bring the fog-stitched pathways of
Thobes, cassocks, or robes.
Oh, Gods, please go away and never come back.
As natterings and chatterings of tutees and tutors
Shatter the silky silence of budding nurseries,
Where friendship and hate are wedded couples,
Where undulating rituals fail to set their foot...
Don’t bring the evening spreads of
Chubas, albs, or kimonos.
Oh, Gods, please go away and never come back.
As clamps and forceps clatter in sync
While nursing pain and tending wounds,
Where nurses know the names of germs
More than the carriers bearing them—
Don’t bring the dying embers of
Rosaries, rudrakshas, or karas.
Oh, Gods, please go away and never come back.
As silent shuffling of paper dances
Spreading rays of words and newborn ideas,
Where yesterday’s crumbling glows are kept
In silver lines of ancient papyrus—
Don’t bring the rust-rimmed rattles of
Christians, Muslims, or Hindus.
Oh, Gods, please go away and never come back.
Then I’ll raise a golden palace
In the vacant land of my emptied heart;
I will bring the paradise within,
Where only truth and hope prevail.
Come with all your might and height,
And baptize me in your holy grail.
Oh, God—please come back, and stay within me.