Artwork by Atif Khan and Damon Kowarski. Image Courtesy: ArtChowk Gallery
To walk this town
You need more than just your body.
An eye for twisted alleys. A skin for lights.
Even then it doesn’t come easy.
The sidewalks are always busy,
And dinner is seldom served at eight.
Like jungle fowls by limpid ponds, in anticipation,
The town lurks in shadows
Watching your walk by inches, with doubt.
A walk across this town is not easy.
Its always a waiting-room-of-history,
Where signboards are scraped with a jagged knife.
People you ask for directions —
Offer you lifts, and like a family rumour
Whisper names. Probable cuts.
To walk this town
You at least need to be broken once
By a shaft of sun that cuts the empty street.
-Mantra Mukim
Mantra Mukim is a student of literature at Delhi University. His poems have appeared in various journals including Muse India, Vayavya and Samavartan. He likes to sit under bottle brush trees.
