Casualties

I was eating sabudana wada
When the news flashed
22 dead, 27injured
At Elphinstone Road Prabhadevi
My friend would tell me the next day,
His live account—
Scattered shoe stamps
Folded faces
Shrieking

Locked bodies
Sinking
As in quick sand
The news flashed
32 dead, 37 injured

Taking a large bite,
I quickly gulped down tea;
Had to reach office on time.

***

Untitled

I’ve consciously
Stopped
Reading news.
My room is my world
(but for how long?)
The cocoon crumples
As political guns

Fire
Tearing open
Unborn butterflies.

***

An Accident         

grasshopper, locked
in the dead beak, quivers—
the fan whirls in indifference.

***

In Exile

A song disrupted—
Lyrics slowly slip away
Word after word…
Over a thousand winters
Leaving behind an immortal tune

   Quivering

            In the heart

Trapped

Behind sealed lips.

***

Prisoner’s Visiting Hour

family of screeching
parrots— one captive
the rest, free.