LOOK BACK IN ANGER:SOMNATH BATABYAL

I saw you in your grave today,
smug and victorious;
The smile which comes
from fooling generations

Soviet Union
disbanded the other day,
Russian girls, cheap whores in
third world motels.

China prospers, on
the blood of Tian an Men square
We lost
a million comrades there.

Wasted years, painting
hammer and sickles;
A thousand marches,
My soul bears the scars.

I have a house. Velvet
curtains shut you out.
A sign on the door screams
``Marxism be damned.''

Perhaps we were wrong,
this is not
what you meant to say,
not at all.

The smile broadens, I see
your cheeks flush.
Forget it.
It's Jeffery Archer tonight!

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