Editor's Choice
Theme: Fate

Not Unusual

the man: he totters homeward reeking of

booze - the cheapest variety

he can’t afford any better

 

the night sky is ominous – just a sickle moon

 

his home:  a 10x10 sq.ft tin-walled room

in a shanty. Here most men are like him

frustrated – useless – drowning in the bottle

 

impervious to what goes on in their homes

 

somewhere a dog barks, a child bawls;

screams... cries... moans... brawls... 

the language reflects their surroundings  

 

there’s little for anyone to look up or forward to

 

his wife: huddled with their three children

hollow eyes concealing a bitterness

that sometimes rims the edges red

 

the chopping knife: to dice veggies with

 

the kitchen – or the corner which goes as one –

bare – the vessels empty like their stomachs

only a deep anger simmers in the eldest son

 

he shares a mutual hatred with his father

 

they have put up Dr. Ambedkar’s statue

at the crossroads – the man goes up to it

salutes – wobbles -  a grotesque grin cracks his lips

 

          he breaks into a song... somebody shushes him 

 

he reaches home... a scuffle... a ghastly screech

racket... confusion... wails...more shrieks... sirens

the ambulance takes away the son

the police haul away the man

 

          choppers can be put to so many uses

 


(This poem was first published in Narrow Road, Vol.6, Dec. 2018)

23-Jan-2020

More By  :  Shernaz Wadia

Views: 1491     Comments: 2

Comments on this Poem

Comment
Welcome, My Dear


Aparna Chatterjee
23-Jan-2020 05:54 AM

Comment Thank you, Aparna for selecting this poem as editor's choice. It was an experimental one and the editor of Narrow Road liked it so he published it in the journal. Glad you also like it. Thanks once again.

Shernaz
23-Jan-2020 05:36 AM


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