Today i passed the suburb in which i grew
The building where i spent the happiest years of my life
was a grey dwarf.
The paanwala who used to leer at me
Grinning,
Exposing bloodcoloured paanstained teeth
He wasn’t there.
The cobbler, his son and their tools
They weren’t there too
The mullapookaran who coiled his meters of stringed jasmine flowers on downturned cane baskets
Who measured a length of mullapoo mala from his fingers to his elbow.
Only so much, not an inch more.
He wasn’t there.
The flour mill where we took whole grains of wheat
Instructed to watch the mill owner
With hawk eyes
(He would thieve, he fed his family on our fine wheat grains.
One fistful from each customer.)
It wasn’t there.
The lottery seller where we invested one precious rupee; (someday we’d get the windfall that were meant for us).
He wasn’t there.
None of them were there.
Traffic swirled around me
Cars honked, windows winked in the sunlight
OfficesStoresSlickApartmentsBrands
Only one grey dwarf building remains
(It was big, ensconced with green.
I visit its cool banister in my sleep)
When its gone the disorientation
Will be complete.
(c) VINITHA
#onedayinasuburb #day9 #whyamiwritingpoetry #persistence #napowrimoxnidhscraps @harnidhk
