The little girl moves
Into a rented house
With her parents
And little brother
She bangs the door shut
Shuts the windows tight
Runs up and down the room...
Glad passersby cannot see her
Bathe or comb or make up
Change clothes or eat or study...
She watches the walls with affection
For keeping the world out
When she doesn't want it...
The train horn jolts her awake
She finds herself still on the pavement
Her family sprawled nearby
But for her mother
Yet to turn in for the night
Though the 3 a.m. express has arrived
And passengers stream out from the station
To her right...
She wishes dreams can be called at will
So she can still be in that one-room tenement
Painted dark green
With some space
In front where
She can draw the dotted kolam
She has just learnt,
With her own corner
For her clothes, school books
Film star poster,
With a window
She can watch the stars from
And shut it
When the sky palls...
She closes her eyes
Shuts the stars out.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem