Teesta Review: A Journal of Poetry, Volume 1, Number 1. May 2018. ISSN: 2581-7094
Longings
--- Sunil Sharma
Love is that sudden cloud on a
sultry summer afternoon
Stretched out lazily on a tired and
yawning street,
Its tar melting in places and a
corner shriveled-up tree
No longer is a home to birds or
flowers, as it totally
Covered with the soot of the
vehicles' exhaust, passing hurriedly,
It breathes life into the dead and
animates the cityscape
Providing succor to those already
forgotten.
A homeless, in tatters, finding
comfort, in the tiny shadow of the twisted tree
And the passing cloud---enough for
an eternity!
His faithful companion---a cat in
gnarled hands, purring,
Completing the picture of a derelict
family.
This is suburban Mumbai with
millions of dreams thriving
Each orbiting in its own atomic axis,
Automatons trying for love and
happiness in a mercenary city.
Cool
Like a delayed spring breeze-- -
In an Asian urban sprawl starved of
fresh oxygen
And coughing constantly due to
passing fumes,
She arrives, at last,
As the breath of a gentle wind being
wafted
Slowly via an open casement
Facing the choppy sea and caressing
tired eyes,
Tear- stains dried up on the oval
face
Of a child looking out for signs of
a mother
Lost forever in a bomb-attack;
And the sweeping, lingering presence
Leaves everything touched with
colors
And fully scented in her wake!
Few arrivals in life
Can manage such a natural act;
The spring
The woman
In a gasping household and a mega
city.