Poem: ‘A Dalit’s Death’

And did they make you drag
your body
as a testament
to what happens
When your love
is too radical?

And did you die a Dalit’s death
When the state washed its hands
after touching you.
And did they?hoist that body up
when the sun
was still shining
as an example
of what happens
when you ask for a place
In the church?

Ask for a place for the poor,
the sick,
the outcast,
and the untouchable
In this sham called a society.

Were you stabbed after you died
because even after all the bleeding
their thirst wasn’t quenched?

And did you die a Dalit’s death
where your mother
had to watch helplessly
as a sword ran through her heart
for the rest of her life.
Did she hold the rest of your brothers close,
hugged them a little longer,
kissed their forehead a little harder,
knowing that a Dalit’s death
might be written on them too.

And did even God himself forsake you?
And if you didnt know that Sunday was an Easter,
that Sunday was resurrection,
that on Sunday your body would be made whole,
would you still have chosen a Dalit’s death to die?

// An Oppari For Love!

Daniel Sukumar, Karnataka

(Daniel Sukumar is a spoken word poet and a stage artist. His poetry aims at initiating conversations around mental health, politics, and caste oppression. He mentors student poets and has played a huge role in the development of slam poetry in Bengaluru.)