Page 41 - Poems

SHUNTINGS AND SIDINGS

here and why I belong was never clear to me
WUntil
I found myself landing feet first in Mumbapuree
(Thank you, dear friend, for the naming)

Never clear to me the I and what it stood for
Inside
The cusp of where and why, more at ease with
Ifs and buts and let me go back to the beginning

A series of separations that never could let me see
The word
Belong as anything but two worlds pulling apart,
Needing suffixes and prefixes to hold together

Until inside
The word

Another sound
Unfolded

… tez local thodi hi samay mein platform
kramankh chhay pur aa rahi hai yeh local
mulund ghatkopar kurla dadar byculla
station pur rukegi … barah dabbey ki tez
local aaj platform kramankh saath ke bajey
platform kramankh ek pe aa rahi hai
yatriyon ko yeh asuvidha ke liye hamein
khed hai … arré chal na aagey … kantaal aa
gaya … number bheja thha deepa ko hostel
mein … kya fayda … kuch bhi …

It wasn’t about point A to B to Z at all
Another
Logic drove the lines, while I watched
From the crowded platform, waiting for mine to come

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