Love In The City Poem by Nibedita Phukan

At the break of day in the lake of lilies
The sun cut out the moon's pale splendour
Light and dark, criss-crossing, had me blinded
And we played house
Like birds, roosting, in a room long locked

A three-seater couch was our stage, the TV
Our central jail
A marble Tajmahal sadly sat
Atop a table at the corner

We had loved till the city was beautiful
Neon lights lit our road to love
My love was unbridled, like the city
Yours was urbane genteelness
Myriad times we joined the procession
And were back to make love in our cramped quarters
The dark sat deep on the drapes of the window
When the touchy-feely wind shook the curtain
Restless men on the outside fidgeted

One day
The drains of this city turned stinky
I was pierced by a spear of sly will
Loosed from another city

As sleight of hands was getting me maddened
A knock on the door shattered my dawn
My window shook with the newsboy's throw