NH44, Kudlu road intersection under the expressway

Saturday morning traffic less than normal,

Weekenders not on road, state borders are closed

The city waking from another lock-down

Knee-jerks and doubts claiming the clouds.

The U turn is simple, a wide parabola,

I do it without lifting eyes off the small apartments,

Resting on its heads 100-gallon water tanks painted bright yellow

I wonder who chose the color and why.

The tree pale green, people in city never know is mulberry.

A small bird roosts looking at the cars ply,

At the chink woman, a baby hanging off her back like in a hammock

The bird watchful of the curb outside the grocery store, the picky pick bird.

The guys at Honda showroom are buzzing picking cars for service,

The sales guys sit on the threshold combing hair

One guy picks his teeth as if it’s the next best thing to selling cars,

A girl is blowing red balloons inside the retail area,

Tying five to six together like bunches of grapes,

To stick ém over the tip-to-toe glasses with BOPP tape

The outlet to wear festive look and publicize panic sale,

Nobody is at the booze shop next door, it has no name board

Except the ad for Smirnoff, red bubbles,

Red and bubbles and white cut glass, no bikini models.

I count the days passed, the days to be endured

Everything gets askew, whatever you hold dear since milky-days, even time

And then it comes, I didn’t expect it to come, it comes –

Nirvana is when you learn to say ‘don’t want’ to things you want,

Not to say no to others the things they want.

                                                                 ~ Saranyan Bv 

                                                             Bangalore, India