This started off as a list of things I could hear outside my room at night but it ended up somewhere else. Make of it what you will.
an unfamiliar song plays
just a little louder than the fan;
My drowsy thoughts settle
in the knots of my curls.
As I place my glasses by the pillow,
my eyes blink in slow motion,
but I won't allow them to close.
Not enough time was wasted today.
The rings of my radar travel outside my four walls.
I can now hear the tak-tak of a lighter
from a secret smoke.
I wonder if he's hiding
from his mom
or his wife.
Then there's the kach-kach of a broom
made of coconut sticks, scrubbing a wet floor.
I can imagine her squatting in her saree
to clean tiles.
The whirring of a motorbike precedes a barking dog.
I think of the bald woman who leaves home
with a bag of rice and a bandana.
She knows every nook of every street
by the hungry stray that guards it.
My own pet is curled up at the foot of my bed,
her legs twitching involuntarily as she dreams of chasing squirrels up the mango tree.
If I could choose a dream to dream tonight,
I'd be a seven-year-old girl
standing on the ledge of an open window
in the middle of a thunderstorm,
howling back at the wind,
fearlessly.
When I wake up,
the only thing I know for sure is that
my glasses have slipped
into the crack between my bed and the wall.
I listen for the familiar tak-tak
lighting up a much-needed morning smoke,
the kuch-kuch of a broom cleaning bathroom tiles.
and as if on cue, a bike whirs, a dog barks
and somewhere in the distance,
there's an echo of a little girl,
holding onto the bars of her window,
howling at the wind.
Poetry by Inspired
Read 415 times
Editors' choice
Written on 2021-06-16 at 21:49
Tags Imagine Dreams Night
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Overheard While Alone
Two episodes past midnight,an unfamiliar song plays
just a little louder than the fan;
My drowsy thoughts settle
in the knots of my curls.
As I place my glasses by the pillow,
my eyes blink in slow motion,
but I won't allow them to close.
Not enough time was wasted today.
The rings of my radar travel outside my four walls.
I can now hear the tak-tak of a lighter
from a secret smoke.
I wonder if he's hiding
from his mom
or his wife.
Then there's the kach-kach of a broom
made of coconut sticks, scrubbing a wet floor.
I can imagine her squatting in her saree
to clean tiles.
The whirring of a motorbike precedes a barking dog.
I think of the bald woman who leaves home
with a bag of rice and a bandana.
She knows every nook of every street
by the hungry stray that guards it.
My own pet is curled up at the foot of my bed,
her legs twitching involuntarily as she dreams of chasing squirrels up the mango tree.
If I could choose a dream to dream tonight,
I'd be a seven-year-old girl
standing on the ledge of an open window
in the middle of a thunderstorm,
howling back at the wind,
fearlessly.
When I wake up,
the only thing I know for sure is that
my glasses have slipped
into the crack between my bed and the wall.
I listen for the familiar tak-tak
lighting up a much-needed morning smoke,
the kuch-kuch of a broom cleaning bathroom tiles.
and as if on cue, a bike whirs, a dog barks
and somewhere in the distance,
there's an echo of a little girl,
holding onto the bars of her window,
howling at the wind.
Poetry by Inspired
Read 415 times
Editors' choiceWritten on 2021-06-16 at 21:49
Tags Imagine Dreams Night
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
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