Pedestal

by Tanya Singh

 

in history, we study that the institution of kingship was

based on human choice. that we wanted to be ruled.

maybe they didn’t have a choice, she says. give our king

a proportion of our rice, in turn for protecting subjects.

sutta pitaka, one basket of sutta, contains the essence of buddha.

that ours was an idyllic state; if a man needed soup for meal,

the nature gave him soup for meal, she says. that was easy.

we turn our heads over to the black board, rise to the sound of

chalk squeaking against. the chalk doesn’t wish to give up a

proportion of its rice. we were silent. we were landscape board.

see recognition of human agency in creating reality.

when a dog eats dog, do we mourn the dog who died, or

the dog who learnt to kill?

no, you build a pedestal for your ancestors.

brick by brick, we leave lines on our hands, and call it fate.

 

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Tanya Singh is the Founder & Editor-in-Chief of The Cerurove. Their work has     appeared, or is forthcoming in Literary Orphans, Black Napkin Press, Indolent Books (What Rough Beast Series), among others. They are seventeen years old, and they live in India.