A Forgotten Life

There are times when you cannot help "killing" as you may call it. Thats the argument i give to all those non-vegetarians who argue that by eating leafy stuff we are killing the plants so why should we mind them killing animals. Its not like plants don't live but we can relate ourselves better to animals. All animals, insects etc can protest, defend, cry, and feel...like us. but still some emotion-less people have the guts to kill them and rejoice to see blood in their fingers. Unlike plants the chicken cannot grow new wings if these are plucked off. Anyways, like i said before, you cant help it. we wont get food if we dont eat leafy stuff. insenitive people like this, argue stupidly and like to kill just for the heck of it, even if they have a choice not to. In class one day, there was this spider, i wanted to put it out of the window, but this girl just slapped her book on it, killing it. And when asked why she did that when there was a window next to her, she told me it was "just a bloody spider, it deserved death". see what i mean...killing without a reason...

The class progressed silent and spiritless,
when 'midst was heard a scream of disgust
i saw my friend a step from her chair
mouth open, hands in the air
upon the chair was a tiny spider
scared, probably just as bewildered,
motionless for a moment, then tried to scarper away,
hearing the screams from the girls in the way,
the boys looked at it with murder in their eyes,
i tried to save the lil things life,
i approached it with care and caution,
not wanting to frighten it; it may hasten
but someone bet me to my race
approached with a book held high
slammed it down, on the unblemished soul
it looked at the murderer with shock; dumbfounded
the sound of the slam in my head resounded
my head split with pain as though
it was i who had been hit on the head
in front of me crushed a life which i could not save
i gave a soft cry of agony and despair
as i saw the frail body squashed on the book
a stain of red blood on the spot where it had stood
just a foot from the windowsill
from life; just a foot away
this would not have happened if i had been spry
i bowed my head and walked back to my seat
a mixture of pity and guilt filled me
and the class progressed again, without a chafe
oblivious to the fact that a spider had disturbed the class

                                                      -adhiti raman