VULNERABLE

Teeming millions blood glistening the mighty black soles

destinies minced in the polish of that one despot,

contours and jaw lines vary. 

Blitzing power and hatred, the perfect manure,

irrigating acres of stone heart massive enough to lather ego.

Innocent lives forming the fodder, their fates calligraphed,

a tyrant's lust for his own karma. 

Roofs and walls incapacitated to shield the proletariat,

metamorphosis of embedded wails and shrieks 

fortunes hitting rock bottom,  

some tiny hands deciphered, some orphaned,

some limbless, wonder where they went wrong.

Ravenous appetite for pages in history syllabus

despots amass masses, puncturing heartbeats on the way.

Countable faint breaths rasp in agony,

only to be figured just as a word in syllabus.

The shoe varies, size changes, times change,

the commoner remains the same, the whole world on his platter,

unaware mortals just a tap away, no blemish on the shoe,

their karmas entwined for a faceless doom. 

My Indian train journeys

 The frenzy of assisting parents in packing suitcases,

the pleasure of jumping on them till it clamps tight

the thrill of shutting all doors and windows

me and my sister bidding bye to our bedroom

frantic search for tiny locks and exact keys for all suitcases.

The rickshaw slowly pulling at the station to the smell of salted cut mango peices

and tangy puffed rice in paper cones

The endless tug at mom for the 25 paise coin to check weight till the train arrives

Counting of the compartments till the train stops

The excitement to occupy the window seat and stretch hands out 

Catching the train at the bend watching the engine puff and cough.

Groping teen eyes reading the names of co passengers stuck on compartment door,

wishing for some handsome guy to be a co traveller for the 24 hour journey

the disappointment at seeing aged men and ladies 

the thrill to buy Archie novels and Pai comics at  A.H Wheeler bookshops on stations

the feel of home bedsheet on train's berth and dozing off 

to awaken to different train announcements.

Listening to Dad's continuous chatter with other passengers,

the enjoyment of eating along with co- passengers, 

sharing each other's delicacies, eagerly climbing up and down the 

top and lower berth

playing cards and reading new town names pass by

drinking tea from little hot earthen pots

fritters and pancakes guys selling food on our faces

the lovely aromas too hard to resist.

The scanning for the uncle who used to come to receive,

the hugs and giggles, the ride back to their home, 

the beginning of the summer holidays.

 

Bend faces on screens, wires, earpods and cables for company

the conversations with rectangular inanimate objects,

pouts, clicks and selfies, posts, likes and insta uploads

the new journey of today's teens.

MANGLE

 

Flibbertigibbet, gossip and chatter seated on a bench, 

query each other, "What do we have in common."

The singsong chorus echoes "repetitive letters in each word".

The reiterative trait resembling human nature, 

draining energies in its indulgence, a daily itinerary for many,

a difficult practice to shrug off, eroding smoothness in many a relationship.

Men pointing fingers at women for perfecting the art,

office vending machines, smoking alleys begging to differ.

Majority relishing it's flavours, a few handfuls skimming the veracity.

Egoistic mind enjoying its spread, juicy punches promoting facial exercise,

coffins and funerals insufficiently strewing gossips of the dead,

breathing mortals stitching it over time.

Social media, news, its newfound besties,

day or night, any corner of the globe,

scandals on sandals trot and quench 

mundane insatiable appetite for oxytocin.

One breeds the other, hearsays multiply,

written words displace countless canards,

history rewritten and taught,

rumour mocks at the real truth,

binned in the park's litter.