By Anu Joshy
At the red light when the car stops
A knock, two eyes, wispy hair, brown
Outstretched hands
that I pretend not to see
A city that chokes,
its indifference settles like dust all over me
Where the kings once walked
the wretched crawls
Any moment another brawl
People with hunger in their eyes
Stare at me, angry eyes
Burn burn all through the night,
Ashen mornings,
White cars taking important people to
important places to do important things
Tall buildings with big gates and pigeon shit
Clean and clean, and yet
Here nothing ever gets cleaned
The dust pierces the skin
The blood turns black like the dead river
Tobacco tar oozes from the screen
Wipe wipe and yet it’s never clean
Neither the roads
Nor the wretched hands
Nor the white cars
Nor the tall buildings
Or the rot within