The Elephant in the Room

Mujeeb Jaihoon’s hard-hitting poem on the society’s willful blindness to injustice—where vanity thrives, but the cries of the oppressed go unheard.

Commuters and pedestrians
Put up hours in congestion.
“Let’s build parks and gardens,
Spacious footpaths, precious flowers.”

The poor are hungry and jobless,
Empty stomachs, emptier wallets.
“We need more devotional festivals
And rot in riots, wrought in Divine ecstasy.”

Raped, razed, and gas-chambered,
Humanity hangs crucified on the Z-cross:
“Displace, dispossess the natives,
Since, the scenic spot is all we need.”

The reigning ostriches continue
To bury their heads in the sand,
Blinded by their rose-colored glasses,
They slumber in cowardly indifference.

Feb 11 2025 |  Shaban 12, 1446