I love Pissurlem [By Seby] [A poem about mining in interior Goa, from the village of Pissurlem, where the bowels of the earth have been excavated for over five decades.]
Mining has played havoc With the lives of people With the agriculture With the forest cover and its microbe wealth With the democratic tradition With the workers With the wells and water With the tiger, fox and squirrel With the nests of mainah, sparrow and parrot With the habitat of the sanke and calotes With the fish, fishing ponds and frog With the fish, fishing ponds and frogs With the natural springs and its coolness With the trees -- big and small Mining has pumped dust Into the lungs of neighbourhood residents Mining has corrupted Politicians and bureaucrats Mining makes a joke Of democracy in my land I can't remain in peace And witness the houses of Pissurlem in peril The mark of muddy flood-waters Inside the bedroom The land of mining Victimised and rendered useless Coconut trees stand Visibly half dead; Roots unable to suck water from the ground High-powered mining pumps Keep the ground water table Perennially low Twenty-four hours a day Pumps on without a halt Educational infrastructure So thoroughly humiliated Mining dums about to enter classrooms Tuberculosis, bronchitis Are but the routine death of the living Once a fertile land Today a story of tragedy Fifty years of mining Is creating ecological refugees O My Beloved... Wake up! Few economic tycoons Have waged a predatory onslaught Against the planet earth. A call to you >From the bosom Of common ecological community. Come. Let's together voice The suppressed words of our chests Let's methodically tackle our mining enemy Let's plan to wipe out tears and misery Let's in courage move ahead To heal the shattered ecology Let's move with precision To accomplish our mission Let's in humility mingle with people Let's preserve in our heart Values of democracy Let's extend our hands To bridge the gaps of generations Let's listen patiently to the words of the studious Let's immense deeply In the habit of study Let's dare to venture out into new lands adventurously. Let's keep in focus Pissurlem as a case study Let's remember always Love and affection of the Pissurlem people Food and shelter they provided us Swimming in the Mahadai river, indeed joyous And the exposure to archeological insights tool Let's prepare to respond In the style of Liberation Let's do all at our command For I love Pissurlem It's suffering people And natural charm... Let's not allow to be destroyed It's serene calm. ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
