The Darkness of the Moon
From dawn till late in the night
Bare from the waist up bare feet too
The bare wind caressing the bare body
The boy of just fourteen
Cleaning washing wiping cups and other utensils
Serving tea to the customers
all along smiling
The sun moon and the stars
looking at with the envious eyes
From dawn till late in the night
Whether it is green or black outside
Whether the road sings or is dumb
He keeps churning his body
Bringing out flowers on the lips and eyes
Of the customers as they smile and say
Aaah at the warm sip of the tea
bearing the boy's morning signature
The green mango hangs from the bunch
Of the greenish yellow leaves
Looking at the tea stall heavy hearted
The young student
One feet on the paddle and the other on the ground
In white and blue school uniforms
Says to the boy
Don't you attend school
The tea boy looks fool
At about ten one night
When I was strolling the road by the shop
He came smiling at me
A new feature phone in his palm
Perhaps wanted to say
See, I have bought it
With my own money
But I was wrong
Would you dial a number for me, uncle
He said
As I looked up to his face
He lowered the chin
There was no need to say
I do not know to read the numbers
The sky stood starless
The moon hid behind the clouds
He needed to talk to his mother
Anxiously waiting for the call
Hundreds of miles away
I handed him the phone
ringing at the other end
A moment later
His whole body was dancing with joy
As if he had won the Helen of Troy
Such boys and girls
There are umpteen
Spending their life
Like the machine
You find street children everywhere
Sweeping the floor in the trains
Selling food on the streets
Mending and shining the shoes
Rag picking, begging and stealing
To stay alive
Still ours is a welfare state
Whose welfare?
The state knows
Whose state is it
Obviously of the people
matching the dresses of
The Prime Minister
Of the people
matching the political party leaders
Who are elected ministers
even after conviction
and imprisonment
Machine are becoming humans
At a snail's pace
One day indeed they would win the Helen
That would take
Many a century
Many a century
_______________________________________
April 8, 2018
Written for the Social Justice - Free Verse
Poetry Contest. But the engrossed mind
forgot the line-ceiling and the poem
flowed well beyond the stipulated
50 lines. So, this is for no contest.
Copyright © Probir Gupta | Year Posted 2018
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment