A steaming ceramic cup tells the story
of September rain
the sky is a wet blanket heavy with grief
for reasons known to the tramp perhaps, staring blankly at the road stretched
ahead chuckling to himself,
may be at some cruel joke life has hurled at him carelessly.
Green by the window side fills the eyes,
sorrow becomes a tender stem of a climber
The gloom of the sky spills in drops creating a collage, labelling time in heart's
album.
A day such as this is a day of revealing,
as the deeper hues reveal themselves when the petals unfurl.
We stand nude, our thoughts spread out like a railway track
running, intersecting, merging, journeying,
taking us along the route of some strange discoveries.
Finally... the mirror cracks
the scattered eyes stare back mercilessly,
disillusionment is the bitter pill we digest and feel akin to the tramp by the roadside
An arrow-like pain pierces, bringing out a deep gash drowned in frothy beer
while the city shrinks to the lane that sees our footsteps returning late at night
~drunk, drenched, defeated
yet wishing to get cleansed,
wishing for another September shower.
Mallika Bhaumik is a pushcart nominated poet with two poetry books. Her second book “How not to remember” was published by Hawakal Publisher (2019).