The fanatic

It stumps  me

Like a seismologist
who did not heed
quake warnings

like a politician
with his head buried
in complacent sand

I discovered
intolerance
hatred and bigotry
in my backyard

Growing
like an innocuous  weed
it entwined
my life's base
and threatened
to choke it.

Why did it take so long
for me
kumbhakarna
to wake up?

When the
grass was dry
and yellow , I
should have been
aware
fire
was not faraway



When engulfed
with flames
and choking with smoke
there is no point
holding a meeting
to decide
where we went wrong ?