Slum Dreams Poem by Sukanta Mohapatra

SLUM DREAMS
Dreams queue up to enter
the sleepy slum’s greedy mouth
It gobbles up them all
to cage them inside tin huts
Shields them from the sights of
free flying birds By roofs of
broken asbestos and polythene

Dreams slowly fade with time
All they do is to parade
on its dark narrow alleys
reminiscing about old fantasies
dressed in razzmatazz of city life
about the colorful world
that they dreamt before entering
World where there would be no hunger
A world of abundance
And where future existed

Now dreams only dream
about today’s existence
As in slum’s world
tomorrow is not yet defined
dreams that still try to revive
in the stench of liquor
in some dark smoke filled rooms

Still there are some obstinate dreams
far from that dark smoke filled room
never bowed down to slum’s authority
Dreams that never cease to dream
Dreams that steal a glimpse of open sky
to make flying birds their allies..
Dreams where still tomorrow exists
© Sukanta Mohapatra…2015