By Anish Chatterjee
We spotted smoke against the grey
From the street where we played
One friend, judging its width
Estimated fifty kilometres
We mocked the idiot
For it was clearly much closer
We wondered from where it came
And got back to playing
It curled against the afternoon
As we got deep into our books
Its scribbled margins
An unswept floor
Of important exam notes
V.V.V.V.IMPORTANT
We asked our parents from where it came
And the topic simply changed
The next morning's headline read
Of the exam's indefinite postponement
We went through the roof
Pooled together our pocket money
And snuck out at noon
To buy our favourite comics
The smoke looked bigger on the way
And we wondered again from where it came
We were caught sneaking in that evening
And got thrashed with a rolling pin
Our parents looked worried
But wouldn't say anything
That night we prised our comics
Out from their highest shelf
We all wondered what that meant
Heard the murmurs from their bed
The weather changed that week
As the monsoon reached its peak
We stayed inside and watched
The black rain fall
As the transistor radio sang
A deeply rousing song
We asked each other what it was for
But were glad that school was closed
Our friends stopped seeing us
As our calls from the dripping street
Echoed off their buildings
There were hardly any passing cars
And our mother watched on
From the balcony
The smoke still rose in the distance
And nobody would answer us
Our night woke in a startle
And they hid us under our bed
There was commotion in the streets
Words that were forbidden
Were chanted loudly
We were told to hold our breath
We all wondered where our father was
But didn't dare utter a word
The dark bled into morning hours
And we crept out to discover
Our unswept street turned upside down
Neighbours barged in crying
Asking us if we saw their husbands
We packed our bags
With whatever we could
And squeezed into a car
That drove past a truck
Of uniforms with guns
Towards the edge of the city
We all passed our school building
And saw that it'd been burning.
***