Two Lakes Poem by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra

Lakes do not happen
Only in geography.
I know one with a Japanese garden
And a limited zoo; it is surrounded
By a red road and is completely
Artificial. Among its reflections
Are isolated trucks, fragrant locomotives, and a giant
Steel works.

The second lake lies
At the foot of a hill and is clean
To the point of invisibility. On one side
Is the club where dead Englishmen sit
Down on tigers and play bridge; little
Balls of air drift through their moustached faces.
In the billiard-room the table is still
Intact, while the stained kitchen-knife
Has appeared in the region's
Folklore.

[From: Distance in Statute Miles]