Of Votes and Vultures: A Poetic Critique of Electoral Opportunism in Muhammad Sharif Bagoro’s Shina Verse
Election Seasons (A Poetic Rendering of Muhammad Sharif Bagoro’s Very Interesting Shina Verse)
Strangely now they come to bless your marriage rites,
A curious crowd attends our prayerful nights.
No true compassion stirs their crafted role—
They come with hidden aims, not heart or soul.
The Pharaohs of our age bend low and near,
Kneeling before the poor they once held dear.
When harvest time awakens field and tree,
Crows and magpies arrive in endless spree.
They dress like orioles in orchard shade,
To charm and fool till full their gains are made.
Then, feathered strong, they rise and fly away—
Himalayan vultures returned to prey.
Even when riverside and mountain land were sold,
And forests bartered into hands of gold,
Their thirst remained; it was not quenched or done—
They turn now toward the orchard and the farm and sun.
For slips of vote—those “parchi” papered claims—
They bow and speak with honeyed, gentle names.
But once empowered by the public will,
They change their face, their promise, their goodwill.
And when you later seek their door or grace,
You meet contempt where once was warm embrace;
They turn on you with anger, harsh and cold,
As if your rights were never bought or sold.
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