Deluge in The City

By Anupama Bhattacharya

Smoke consumes us
Into the epoch of merry making,
of food and philosophy.
Sitting with the rain playing ukulele
Against the kaleidoscope of urban harmony.
As the deluge soars higher with time
Beatboxing outside my window
We aspire to create a bubble
of a world  immune to pain.

“It was in ‘70s… Ghatal, a subdivision.
Four families were stranded on the terrace.
The rain fell without ceasing
burning their stomach.
The gods and relief came together in helicopters.
Ten packs for twenty starving mouths.”

Baba’s reminiscing was cut short
With the sighting of monitor lizards in Balurghat,
marching over the caracas of refugees
those wrecked by the seasonal rain.

The little boy who’d come to our quarters
To sell his wares
never came back again.
No one went in search of him.
He didn’t have the necessary papers
to confirm his identity.
The act of drowning is different in cities.
But the smoke consumes us all
While we send our grief
On the wings of origami planes.

Painting: Indian Art Ideas

Bio:
With an M.A in English literature, Anupama Bhattacharya is a teacher by profession. Her poems have found place in platforms like The Time of India, Ceasurae Literary Magazine, Ethos Literary Magazine, PPP Ezine and Literary Yard. An ardent lover of Indian classical dance, music, literature and poetry she believes in healing the world with words and rhythm.

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