Apartment Poem by BASAB CHAUDHURI

What happens in that apartment?
A dimly lit one: how many people stay there?
What do they do?
What do they eat?
Why am I curious about them?
A dimly lit apartment where men are like shadows -
They fill my imagination, my heart -
At this hour when the darkness of night brings loneliness,
That apartment takes away my mind.
There are so many apartments - dimly lit,
There are people there.
What do they eat?
How do they love?
What else do they do than just living?
Do they read books?
Do they write poems?
Do they paint on the wall like the cavemen?
A dimly lit apartment,
There are so many of them,
Their life, history, culture, agony,
Their inheritance, flow of life,
All of them come to haunt at this hour.
There is silence outside,
A dimly lit silence,
Nothing there but a profound sorrow,
Love without any attachment,
Life without possibilities,
A dimly lit apartment,
There are many such,
Living with remnants of life.