Double Face Poem by Valsa George
Double Face
In a never sleeping metropolis
In the dungeon of a room
My days and nights are locked!
I, a traveler on a street, with no end in sight
But just the bustle of the moving crowd
And a handful of burnt dreams
For company
My ‘kingdom’ is in the third floor
Of an old street building
Now languishing in neglect
Facing dilapidation
Just like my own life
In the chronic agony of existence!
While the adjacent buildings
Renovated and restored
Mine, under a bankrupt landlord
Is on the verge of instant collapse
Looking through the chinks in the wall
And craning my neck
Over barricades of buildings
Amid the swirl of traffic
I get a glimpse of the slum below
In all its squalor and dirt
And a medley of lousy images
Bleeding into one another like water colours
Now and then, I see
Beggars in bundled rags
Along cracked pavements
Some squatting
Some sleeping away to glory
With street dogs
Coming to share
The leftovers in their begging bowls
And lick their wounds!
Sometimes I take away my glance
From the dismembered corpses of the dead!
On another side
In plush residential colonies
With landscaped courtyards
And cerulean swimming pools
Sentries stand on guard
To admit Sahibs
Sliding in Mercedes and Rolls Royce
A little far, in the open balconies
Of star hotels,
Men toast goblets of wine!
Oh! What stark divide! ! !
The have and the have not, this is a common divide that society has put a lid on for us all. The rich just like the poor can't get a good night's sleep. They are to busy trying to get richer or at the least keep what they have. The poor on the other hand is constantly trying to dig themselves out of the mire to try to obtain some sense of dignity. Better though is to be content with what we have as long as we are satisfied and happy. A thoughtful and inspiring write again.
Such a stark contrast. The rich and governments should do more to help the poor.
This is a beautiful poem on reality having insightful inscription. Appropriate title. Nice penmanship. I appreciate it.10
Excellent with beautiful descriptive expressions...ending line lifts the poem to the top....very interesting and inspiring Valsa
Reading this poem actually reminded me of a small but very significant incident that happened when I was just nineteen and was in the second year of my college. Our head of the department asked me to read Baudelaire and said - 'You will be appalled'.. I went ahead and read two of his poems from 'Fleur du Mal', and went back to tell him - 'They were not appalling at all'.. He simply smiled and said read Shakespeare's 'Sonnet 116', and Shelley's 'Ode to the West Wind' before reading Baudelaire. I did it, and I found how apalling Baudelaire were. Your poem is just like that in its emphasis on the CONTRASTING images.. The different images of people from different sections of the society actually emphasises the misery of the poor and the excess of the rich. A powerful, and strikingly beautiful write Valsa ma'am. Thank you very much for sharing....
Reading this poem actually reminded me of a small but very significant incident that happened when I was just nineteen and was in the second year of my college. Our head of the department asked me to read Baudelaire and said - 'You will be appalled'.. I went ahead and read two of his poems from 'Fleur du Mal', and went back to tell him - 'They were not appalling at all'.. He simply smiled and said read Shakespeare's 'Sonnet 116', and Shelley's 'Ode to the West Wind' before reading Baudelaire. I did it, and I found how apalling Baudelaire were. Your poem is just like that in its emphasis on the CONTRASTING images.. The different images of people from different sections of the society actually emphasises the misery of the poor and the excess of the rich. A powerful, and strikingly beautiful write Valsa ma'am. Thank you very much for sharing.
A painful contrast of our society, nicely described, the distance between the two results in violence. A very thoughtful write.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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12/6/2025 3:15:36 AM # 1.0.0
So wide is the disparity between have and have not, it becomes a common sight to see it has been, it is and it will be irrespective of sensible feelings......Valsa......a very thoughtful and touching poem scripted brilliantly....