Sandstorm

Sandstorm

After a stretch of brooding rains
I returned
To the city of childhood
Which welcomed me back
With a horrendous dose
Of sandstorm

It lashed in from the west
And covered the arthritic city
In an avalanche of sand

Sand over eyes
On yellowed buildings
On cars
Scooters
Inside lungs
On men
And women

Sand blanketed the day
And night
The weekend
The high-rises
The malls
And mind

There was continuity
In the sand madness
Leafless trees
Poking shrubs
The slums
Everything squeezed
Out of shape
With sand

You had to scratch out people
From under the rubble
Ouch! This is the potbellied neighbor,
Not your father,
Nor your brother
Who had anyway
Gone behind the clouds
Without waving back

And if you had to dream
You had to put on
Grandma’s spectacles,
To see beyond the sand,
Myopic landscape
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Voyage Series & Other Poems 2007
Copyright @ Pen Books Pvt Ltd