Poetry 2017 Longlist, Sanjeevini Surendran,

THE  INVASION

Deep inside every human,
Is  something that makes him humane.
It is a village of small size,
But to complete a man, it  will suffice.
“Qualities” is its name,
Widespread is its fame.
It was created when man was.
In it dwelled important people-good qualities.
There was learned sensitivity,
There was mighty courage,
There was gratitude, the man with the best attitude.
There was beautiful love
And pretty forgiveness.
With these people around,
A  traveller called “Happiness” lived in peace.
So, that human was happy.
But as he grew,
There was a transformation.
It was the invasion.
A  huge army invaded the settlement.
It was the army of bad qualities.
Uneducated  insensitivity defeated  sensitivity.
Courage lost against evil fear.
Gratitude was defeated by ungratefulness.
Love lost against hideous hatred.
Forgiveness was defeated by mercilessness.
Happiness left.
Sadness, another traveller came in.
The bad outnumbered the good,
So they defeated the good.
The good slaved over the bad.
That  human became ruined,
That human became sad.
That human became inhumane.
If the good defeat the bad,
Happiness will return, sandness will leave.
Human will turn humane.