Bicycle In Bustle Poem by Kanupriya Kothiwal

Bicycle in Bustle

Trin! Trin! I get a new bicycle on rent
Pretty blue, embedded reflector and a bell of melody
I tell myself 'The time is now' and then
I look at the busy city that awaits
For a ceremonious entry of a new rider

Happily, I set off in the morning sun
But cycling on a busy road is not fun
A car here, A scooter there
Parked unkempt and people indifferent
To what is incoming!

People take wrong sides, I wonder why?
Stop there, wait or gently pass?
I try tell ye, 'Be patient'
The traffic only knows the way ahead;
Cutting off the poor rider and
Singling out to such little measure!

What is my little bicycle's bell,
To the horns that turn people heads?
Yes, the heads do turn for me
Not for the cyclist, but the maiden in me!

I tell myself- 'Enough! It's over! '
And sit wryly at the corner of the road
All dejected and depleted
'Never riding again, bus from tomorrow'

I turn to look at the busy traffic signal
The road hosting the vehicles myriad
I see cars, scooters, buses and trucks
A cyclist, spots the little corner of the eye

He rides on the road with exuberance
He, who does not look at all like me
His clothes are torn and face sunken
Carrying a boxed burden at his back

Another cyclist, a hawker with newspapers
The milkman with heavy milk cans
The cycle is their sole transit, they ride daily
Without the care of traffic and the world
Singing their way through happily, gaily

With that thought, I try pedal once again
Caution, patience, perseverance all it takes,
To see what's ahead and see what's behind
And not think of what is not called
I learn to ride again in the bustle.