Asandhimitra

Poetry by Mini Babu

ASANDHIMITRA

I am the wife
of his perfect years,
the most favoured,
I have evidenced
that which others were
fortunate not to view.
His nights were sorrowful,
remorse preoccupied
his dreams,
100,000 put to death
and 150,000 deported.
His head was a never-ceasing
battlefield, he asked for 
measures to undo a war,
that was long waging
since Kalinga !
How could one unmake deaths ?
He turned a Buddha-Bhikshu
and preached.
It was erroneous to kill an ant,
his subjects heeded
and dispersed.

Many more Asokas
will burn in sleep,
and many more Asandhimitras
will lose sleep.

I am Asandhimitra,
Agramahisi to 
Asoka the Great.

*Agramahisi – chief queen.
Asoka the Great was an Indian Emperor of the Maurya Dynasty, after the war of Kalinga he was aggrieved over the bloodshed and vowed never to fight again. He patronized Buddhism during his reign.

Mini Babu is working as Associate Professor of English with the Dept. of Collegiate Education,Govt. of Kerala. Her poems have been featured in anthologies, journals and magazines. Her collections of poems are Kaleidoscope (2020), Shorelines (2021) and Memory Cells (2022).

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