Innocence

a poem by Sandhya

It is there, the little lamb; among its kith and kin,
frisking away happily, out in the pastures away from it’s pen.
With a bell dangling round its neck,
it bleats, its starry eyes dancing-
dancing like the wind blown grass atop a hill.
It is free from troubles and evils prevailing…

It sleeps a deep sleep with the moon shining on its face,
Ignorantly blissful of what’s written in its fate!
The next day it wakes up,
to find a stranger staring at it.
It bleats welcome at once,
A deal is made as the stranger thinks it fit.

Money exchanged, papers signed,
the lamb is on its way.
Standing inside a rickety truck,
it smiles at the beauty of the day.
The knife is sharpened, the lamb is bathed,
it looks with a gaping mouth in new interest.
Its innocent yellow eyes shining unawares,
unaware of its state the very next instant…