Page 4 - Poems

CHURCHGATE TO CHARNI ROAD

nother kind of unbeing Munger
Aoccurs when he gets off the train Benaras
at Charni Road Jalpaiguri
onto the tracks Asansol
in the middle Chattisgarh
of the afternoon Hospet
and begins to walk back Jalandhar
to where he came from. all the way-stations
Not Churchgate in his derailed geography
where he got on his splintered
but all the way psychology
back he, not single anymore
to not a single shard
Azamgarh of shadow slitting
Muzaffarnagar the afternoon in two
Patiala but
Baramati a succession of men
Faridabad pouring into the gap
between the tracks
their bodies thin
undernourished
overwhelmed
this procession
of many-one.
This
is the greatest longing:
to get off
and go back.
It happens
once a day
between 2 and 3
when the tracks stay clear
and the pi-dogs
sleep and all intents undone.

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