Mind Maps Poem by Mihir Chitre

Would it be better
if every new thought were in the most obvious relation to the last.
Like saying "eight" after counting to seven
or "Churchgate" after a breathless "Grant Road-Churni Road-Marine Lines"
but sometimes at seven, you think of wonders or lucky numbers or the height
of your favourite wrestler; at Marine Lines, of theft, hunger, drug overdose
or the ghost your friend quipped about at the station bridge.
The reason why Shrenik could guess France in a flash
when his best friend said "Shweta" in a game of taboo
is why lines aren't the only shape that exists.
Would it be better
if the train of thought were actually a train and not a buoy
in the Atlantic of your subconscious where love, power and ambition
were a triangle in which the rest of the world drowns.
Would it be better
if every time someone said "salary", I thought of alcohol and EMIs
and not the accountant in office I helplessly saw falling to death
despite all my self-proclaimed might to make the world a livable place.