Bombay Dreams Poem by Saju Abraham

He'd refused to eat while his mother starved,
Toiled to keep her dying man alive.
He refused to sleep while his father labored to breathe.
He eloped with his dreams to a city of dreams.
He refused to cry over his misfortune.
He wouldn't be a sobbing boy in a painting,
Decorating some elite ballroom.
He'd rather live his own life in ignominy.

He boarded a train to Bombay,
With all he had in a rusted tiny box.
The city of dreams crammed his sleep that night.
As he stepped into the morning Bombay,
He was welcomed with all its warmth.
All that evaporated into thin air,
As he set out to change his destiny.
Men offered him favours he thwarted,
For he knew the type well.
Days turned to weeks and to a month,
But all he found was a shack for the homeless.

Then one smoggy morning he deserted his dreams.
Boarding a train he returned home.
He picked up his little sobbing sister,
And held his big sister’s head against his chest.
He felt her fear and helplessness;
Like her he feared future without parents,
But he wouldn’t let anyone see it;
He wept within but showed a stony face.
His small hands held their lean hands tight
And led them into their destiny.