Partition
Gold Currency
A Poem by MICHELE GIBSON
Throughout human history, Gold has proved to be Man's choicest of possessions ... for two reasons: it's intrinsic beauty in the form of jewelery, and its ongoing value in terms of investment and liquidity. But, in times of turmoil, it takes on an added role and the air of currency - something to be plundered, or used to buy feedom and safe passage. As it did during the great human catclysm of the 20th century, the Partition of Punjab in 1947.
Gold of the highest purity
Does not glitter, but warmly glows
Folded in ornamental brocades
Sealed in ivory chests
Dancing with silk salwar kameez
Powerful, even at rest
Willed from generations gone
Disguised as dowry or surety
Acknowledging status and resting upon
An heirloom for posterity?
No, the intrinsic value always bequeathed
Is the standard price of liberty.
Trinkets and gems embedded in gold dazzle and intrigue
Discreetly heighten discourse with the encroaching enemy
To purchase passage, when all else failed, gold could set you free.
The one true goal the oppressor seeks, the only leverage that liberty knows
The basest language the enemy speaks, is the always-desperate exchange of gold
October 6, 2010
Conversation about this article
1: Harnam Singh (Jaipur, Rajasthan, India), October 06, 2010, 2:16 PM.
Dear Ms Gibson: You amaze me each time with the unique perspective you offer on Sikh historical events. This poem, as each of your previous ones, gives us a totally fresh and original vignette - something I don't think any Sikh or Punjabi has looked at, or can, without the insight of an "outsider". Thank you for this poignant piece.
2: Karan Kaur (New York, U.S.A.), October 06, 2010, 5:26 PM.
Indeed, gold becomes a player when things go wrong, sometimes resulting in its owners becoming victimized ... and sometimes helping them buy their way out. We seem to have forgotten how much of a role it played during the Partition. I have heard a number of stories about how it became the catalyst in being a magnet for both villains and 'friends'.
3: Malkit Singh (Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.), October 07, 2010, 5:12 PM.
It's amazing what nooks and corners one can find in digging through history. Good poem. Thanks.