Corona Virus

This is the only piece of advice —
Never mess again with Nature.
Remember, it’s the wrath of the forest:
This Corona Virus.

There is only one piece of advice —
Never have a Chinese dinner with the warm blood of a bat.
Never make shoes for the Americans of the hide of a pangolin.
Remember, it’s the wrath of the forest: this Corona Virus.

There is only one piece of advice:
The destitute people of the world, recognize
This ferocious, deceptive, selfish bourgeoisie again:
This middle class, who are gloved and masked, wish
To spend their lives listening to music and watching TV —
They have killed the forsaken, helpless workers of the world
On the path to affluence.
Karl Marx prophesied it:
Go kneel again before his tomb!

This is the one piece of advice —
The selfie-obsessed children of humans,
Hear the directive from Delphi:
Man needs Nature, not the opposite.
You’ve wrecked this planet
With pollution and sins.
And, if you do not stop this endless stream
Of consumption and fraud;
I too will finish you
With the furious blows
Of the virus grown in the blood of the untamed beasts.
Remember this, Mr. and Mrs. Homo Sapiens.

(This is my translation of a Bengali poem, titled ‘করোনা ভাইরাস’, by poet Ranajit Das)