Cityscapes
Mumbai 2013
1.
At the train station, a taxi driver shouting
for pilgrims. In the train, stories of pilgrims
visiting shrine, over and over. They find god
napping, are asked to wait outside.
2.
The city smells of earth and thunder, fish
and hair oil, coconut and sharp green chili.
In the corner, a landmark named Land Mark,
stark shadows painted on dilapidated walls,
a billboard advertising Good Luck Hosiery,
palms grinning in the backdrop.
3.
Guilt is a railway platform
pungent with warm bodies.
4.
Here, each street contradicts its neighbor,
red light to burkha in twenty-three footsteps.
New name scratched over old, Victorian building
named after Shivaji. Even the trees
wear their roots on the outside. The maps
are onions, layer upon translucent layer.
5.
A child selling hairclips on the slow train,
swinging from handrails overhead. We catch
each other’s eyes. She offers advice
for my acne, a balm I do not know,
available, she promises, at The Medical.
At my station, she hangs out of the open
train door, DDLJ ishstyle.
6.
By the road, an abandoned swing,
boat-shaped. Scrawled on its side,
The Titanic.