Jesus In Crossfire

I was caught in a cross fire
At thangal bazaar
Near Gandhi avenue.
I didn’t know where to run
Where to crawl where to hide
I lost my senses.
In my eyes
The bullets flew so big
Like the morning sparrows

When I came to my senses
I was crawling under a table in a hotel.
Beside me
There he was,
A young bearded handsome man.
He too was panting like others, like me
I asked him,” are you a native?”
He replied in his husky voice,
“I am a native of everywhere
I came all the way from Nazareth
Your hill people called me.
But I can’t heal them
For years their lives are seasoned
With misery and poverty.
I am so helpless.
Once I could heal lepers.
I don’t know still I can walk on water or not
I have put on my weight
As I have been sleeping days and nights
I even forget to save Iraqis, Palestinians”
So I exclaimed,” you are Jesus, the messiah!“
“Why do you hide from bullets and bombs?
Aren’t you supposed to save us?
Bombs and bullets can’t kill you
You are a god
Not a dog like me.”
He replied,” in my hey days
There were no bombs and bullets
And the super god that sent me on this awful earth
Didn’t teach me anything ‘bout bombs and bullets,
If the super god taught me
Why would so many lives be lost in Nagasaki?
Why wouldn’t I save your Gandhi?

O I am late
It is already 5pm
I must go to Sekmai
For my last supper again
Amen!”

He walked away not touching the bloody ground.
But I didn’t know could he ever reach Sekmai or not
Or lying somewhere in the morgue
Because after the cross fire day
13 non Manipuris were shot dead.