A RESISTANCE POEM

How to write a good Kashmiri (poem):
Pick up an ordinary situation
A memory maybe
Or a day-to-day instance,
For power often resides there
Crystalize its flow
Politicise it
Install a fine oppressive metaphor
Carve an identity for yourself
And them
See in black and white
Us and them
Oppressor/Oppressed
(Never go for grey areas)
Praise the redness of blood
Cry, wail and be angry
Cry through Chinars for example
Wail Jhelum
Swag like mountains
But all this in metaphoric criticality
(A good metaphor saves you from propaganda)
When all this is done
Paint all the greys, if any
Wrap it all in good symbolism
This is essential, for if not done
Someday someone will create
A recipe out of it
And write a Resistance poem instructing you
How to write a good Kashmiri (poem)