By Sunil Sharma

Citizen O

eyes closed

sits in a daze

in the fluffy area

indeterminate, fluid

blending easily in the back

a crisscross of bold contours

A Neanderthal- face

almost indistinguishable from the flat

surface of concrete around

perhaps,  an extension of the same solidity

encountered in cityscapes

every body movement

followed by eyes set in a hydra-figure

orbiting from space, near, far

near-far, inside-outside;

ogre following every step

 be it—iron curtain

or democratic state

wherever the Citizen O goes/sits/talks/eats/walks

trekked, monitored, surveyed, by  eyes, always

willing to submit self

to the sinister force

implicated in the process

as a volunteer subject!

Poem inspired by the Painting above by an Australian artist

Image – Always, eyes by Selwyn Rodda