A Hut Ablaze

A poor man’s hut is ablaze The thatched roof of Palmyra leaves Has caught fire suddenly No one knows how it all began The inmates had all gone out The neighbor rushes to pour water But bucketfuls cannot douse the raging fire They removed the gas cylinder somehow If not, it could burst and spread to more houses By the time the fire-engines arrive, The mud hut is flattened and fully burnt No lives are lost or hurt But everything has gone in the flames All clothes, TV, Cupboards, books, string-cot are now ash All the important documents have been destroyed The head of the family works in fields His wife works as a servant-maid The children have gone to school Their mother hears the news and rushes to see Alas! Nothing is left to salvage The fire has not spared anything She is too dazed to speak! People near-by are ready to help The mishap is heart-rending Their hut has been razed down by an unknown fire The poorest people suffer the most But why does a fair God allow such unfairness? The family has nowhere to go Help will come but will be delayed People enquire about the accident Yet, what has happened has happened The anguish in the hearts will never cease Some local politicians come to see the site They could help the badly hit family A new roof may be laid in a few days May be, this was a blessing in disguise The local newspapers carry the news about the accident Money is collected locally in the workplace near-by Things will be alright again but it takes some time But the blazing fire will so remain in the eyes of all inmates For many months thereafter unabated The shock will mitigate only with time The family will limp back to normalcy Their poverty will still remain and THE SAD MEMORIES WILL NOT GET ERASED THAT EASILY But thank God, luckily, no lives were lost!