Urban Poem by Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

I see, while walking in the evening
On the sinuous Bandra skywalk,
I see this battalion on the left below,
As soldiers they fall in line, silently,
Waiting, ready to spring, in attention.

To let fly once they receive orders;
More of them joining from Dharavi,
Slow-moving, but large and intimidating,
Filling up the gaps at the far distance,
And coming to a halt joining the wait.

On the right, I see another battle
Where the arrows are flying past
And fast, having two fireballs in front
And carrying bright red tail-spots
On Thackeray Bridge beside Mithi river.

Some arrows are flying faster
Making way through irregular gaps
Moving forward perhaps for recce-ing,
Not questioned but weakly by others
Who also move towards the frontline.

For this entire warfront, the commanders
Stationed in their spots on vantage position,
With an orange middle eye like Shiva:
When he opens the top red eye, it is “Halt”
When he opens the low green eye, it is “Move”.

Urban life is one long and tense battle series
Guided by logistics signals for hot missiles
In which are carried who don’t know
Where they are headed, to or from,
Nor what they want when they reach.