(1)
I now live in a city:
A city that sleeps and sleeps and sleeps,
Even Mumbai is a city that now sleeps;
(2)
I now live in a city:
Where the only pollution
is the pollution of silence,
Where even eeriness is hush-hush now;
(3)
I now live in a city:
Where people stand apart in queues,
Inside demarcated circles,
Outside grocery shops,
and outside medical stores;
(4)
I now live in a city:
Where Spring is lonely – for a change,
And who knows,
The long Summer ahead
may be a lonely one too;
(5)
I now live in a city:
Where schools are shut,
But –
Wine Shops are wide open,
A city where shut Temple doors
are devoid of devotees,
While Wine Shops openly boasts of
long unending queues in broad daylight,
This is my city – for the time being.
© Sabah
