Small Town Road - shikhandin
A child’s laughter hurtles through the dark
like a puppy with a stolen bone. I am quite alone.
The sulky stare of a street lamp, stubbornly hugging
the grassy edge of this narrow small-town road
slithers ahead of me; this black
tar road, this solitary lamp, this backdrop
of blacker-still night.
The squawk of an errant egret returning
to its nest long past curfew hour. White wings
rowing through sky - a blur of anxious
white, a flustered ghost in the moist black night.
No one can claim my space here, but who
do I really need? The cities are mixed-fruit jam jars.
Blended, you can be still so alone. That solitude is terrible.
You are squeezed in like that extra shred of underwear
into a box bursting at the seams. You are slung
neck to neck with people bearing grim,
no-trespassing signs for faces.
Now, my small-town road is different. It murmurs
its own stories as it unwinds. I am welcome
to listen if I want, nobody invites.
I am free to lend an ear. It is alright
to eavesdrop. I may talk
to myself, if I so choose and my road will listen.
My monologue will not be
an eccentric’s soliloquy. Perhaps
a gecko below a loose brick in a dark garden wall
will chuck-chuck out of sympathy, or a shrew
scuttling busily will squeak her disapproval. It is all right.
They don’t mind. Just as I don’t mind that
child’s laughter nuzzling
its way into my ear, gleefully seeking
a soft warm hole to bury its bone.
***
Originally published by Words-Myth 2008
Shikhandin is the pen name of an Indian writer. Books include “After Grief – Poems” (Red River, India), “Impetuous Women” (Penguin-Random House India), "Immoderate Men" (Speaking Tiger), and "Vibhuti Cat" (Duckbill-Penguin-Random House India).
Honours include, runner up George Floyd Short Story Contest 2020 (UK), Pushcart nominee by Aeolian Harp (USA) 2019, Pushcart nominee by Cha: An Asian Literary Journal (Hong Kong) 2011, Winner 2017 Children First Contest curated by Duckbill in association with Parag an initiative of Tata Trust, First Prize Brilliant Flash Fiction Contest 2019 (USA), Runner up Erbacce Poetry Prize (UK), Winner 35th Moon Prize (Writing in a Woman's Voice: USA), First Runner up The DNA-OoP Short Story Contest 2016 (India), Second Prize India Currents Katha Short Story Contest 2016 (USA), First Prize Anam Cara Short Fiction Competition 2012 (Ireland), Long list Bridport Poetry Prize 2006 (UK), Finalist Aesthetica Poetry Contest 2010 (UK). Shikhandin’s prose and poetry have been widely published in India and abroad in online and print journals and anthologies.
Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/shikhandin
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