A tired man will hang at dawn
for hearing voices in his head.
Tomorrow’s newspapers won’t be read
and the Republic will sleep peacefully.
The Rottweilers have been taken off the leash,
they are nosing out children in the dark.
Tomorrow’s joggers will stumble in the park
and the Republic will sleep peacefully.
A white crow settles on a branch
stripped of its leaves, which boys shred.
The flayed rain trees will soon be dead
and the Republic will sleep peacefully.
The lion’s open mouth is foaming,
his keepers have foraged for flesh all night.
They will pile up their plunder at first light
and the Republic will sleep peacefully.
A man is horsewhipped for bringing the sky
into a cold room without after or before.
They will nail his shadow to the door
and the Republic will sleep peacefully.
A man swings
like a broken clapper in a bell.
The hangman knows all but cannot tell:
the Republic must sleep peacefully.
Ranjit Hoskote is the author of over 20 books, including Central Time (2014), a collection of poems published by Penguin India