Death And The City Poem by aditi ray

This is the story of one in many
Who come to the city to find
Work and a place to stay
And if they dig in their heels long enough
A life that would make their folks say
Our girl has come a long way.

That was eight years ago.
When dreams had ducked
And faith fast forwarded
News of lives caught in the city's web
Devoured by its soul-spider
That welcomed all into her cipher.

But as many of you may know
That secrets are forged in cities
Deep in the furnaces of the heart
Hammered by the Cyclopean arms
Of indifferently passing years

So once while travelling in the metro
She thought how apt it was that she should carry
Her secret in the city's belly
Sitting anonymous among its denizens.
A secret that was sure to invite
The revulsion of the surfactant tribe.

But she would have to step out
From the bowels of the earth
Again and again, and bare her all
To masked people who could not see
The growing loneliness of her heart.

So one day, as usual, while waiting for her train
She thought, What if I were to never emerge
From this womb of the city
But travel forever to and fro
Between familiar stations of life
Hemmed in, yet freed by jostling bodies on the fly?

At 11 pm she took the plunge
A daring feat indeed
Thought the spirits of the catacomb
Most of whom had dared differently.