"THE STONE AGE, THE STONED AGE, AND THE AGE OF STONING" - A poem

THE STONE AGE,
THE STONED AGE,
AND THE AGE OF STONING

by Yavar Khan Qadri

The three Ages of Stone

Seven thousand for one

A dozen years for two

Then the first two Ages were done.

The first Age came early

Man, primitive, with flaws

An early Early Man

Under the fear of claws.

So he made better weapons

Improved over bone

Gone was the “primitive”

Man, deftly carving stone.

The Stoned Age came much later

Amidst the first foolish wars

The marijuana & mushroom joints

The roar of the muscle cars.

The Stoning Age is here now

More poignant than others

It's the Age of flinging Stones

In Kashmir, sisters and brothers.

Not that protests are not justified

With all the brute force let loose

It's just that the logic is confusing

By the primitive methods we choose.

Useless the pen's might

Wisdom in its last throes

Submission, demand the leaders

And the miserable Kashmiri bows.

Death, fear, and depravity

Caused by the leaders' behaviours

Are they the biggest crooks?

Nay; they are the 'saviours'!

With astronomical demands

The leaders are many

Their own children safe

They haven't sacrificed any.

That's okay, I suppose

The leaders are exempt

Stone pelting is for the masses

The classes? Only to tempt.

Have we ceased to be human?

Have we declined to think?

Closing our eyes to reality

Never did once we blink.

Some say follow the one

Who does not change his stand

We do have the Devil

Then do we shake his hand.

Admitting these facts is a 'sin'

The cowards can hurt you fast

But once Kashmiris have risen

Their threats won't really last.

So throw onto them

What they throw onto you.

Go on your marches

But invite them too.

Then be amazed by the way

The rhetoric will vanish

The marches and the pelting

They themselves will banish.

Or do nothing

Just suffer and wait

Until they lure you

With yet another bait.

The fact is that kids are kids

Not instruments of war

They need a future

Not a dream that's too far.

Anyone who coerces a child to fight

Deserves to be kicked out from society, outright.

© Yavar Khan Qadri, 25 Sep 2016