In the busy main street
Of this Sultanpur city
Smeared with the dust of antiquity
Incessant flow of rickshaws
With non-stop rings of bells
Sounding like death knells
Colourful, clamorous and bright,
Still, beautiful is this ugliness of antiquity
There stands a burro exactly in the middle
Of this road surrounded by all these noises
Silent, sharpening and stretching its long big ears
At this time flows and reaches there
Beautiful music, stereo and non-stereo,
Announcement of lottery tickets,
With handsome promises on future,
Slogans, election manifesto, street politics,
Land boundary disputes, secrets of friends,
Luring laughs of ladies flirting with their lovers
But, the burro stands on the middle of the road
In the same state, unmoved and dispassionate
And, many centuries have passed now.
By Ismail Meladi
No comments:
Post a Comment