An Excerpt

She sat in a dark corner,
like a lifeless, rotting corpse,
her heart raced out of fatal fear,
She awaited for her end to come,
as her life leaked, tear after tear.

The mud draped walls, now stank,
the earthen floor, the cold stove,
the din depressing light of the oil lamp.
With every beat, her heart gasped for a little life,
with every gasp, a little more it sank.

And then they came,
four of the religiously correct men.
They grabbed her, dragged her out.

They dragged her to the place,
the exit door, of the unfortunate.
But even though she was not so,
their rules, beliefs, religiously correct ways,
drove her, this unwilling woman, to her ill fate.

Bangles broke, chants were read,
the torch was lit, oil was spread.
Was tied up, this stubborn woman,
for she refused to abide to their way,
to lie with him, on his death bed.

Loud cries, mercy pleads, burst of tears,
the way of God, of priests, of the correct.
Inhuman, cruel, detestable, evil,
a holy ritual, a sacrifice for the best.
An unjust way, to uphold the honour of the sect.

The flames were drawn,
and all just stood around and watched.
Deaf, dumb, blind to this most moving scene.

So, how does one define religion?
A correcting pill to instill humanity,
or a whip in the hands of insane?
Confuse, bewilder a man who thinks,
of such excerpts from own religious history.