The autorickshaw Diaries

 

photo by Lian Chang

By the road

An apple grows fatter on a tree
Newton has slept for years
The nightbirds sing in alliance
I extend my hand to the breeze
which is sticky from surfing over rainwater
Night is arriving like a falling star,prayed for
A tree stands alone,out of place
by the road ,spitting dirt
It watches these mysterious capsules
rush past,with nothing but figures moving inside
The 'tuk-tuk' reaches a raging high
As the road passes through sheer silence
Where are all the women?
Two concrete marvels stand
Their faces made to look at the other
They probably smile
or cry,when no lights glow in their bellies
There are red and blue bulbs bouncing
off their heads,
The sky it seems is pleased
There is this infinite space to look out to
But clouds pretend to be the sky,
Do they mistake me for
the weather man,only he could tell
The chuckles of my rickshaw
send me to sleep.


Takeover

The sun burns with palish delight
Flesh under the sun,erotic
My arms ache of ironic hugs
Has the road been straddled to a horse
I have bounced more times
than the dog i command,
He must be somwhere
Another yellow chariot moves alongside
A face hiding behind a black veil
looks at me,the sun bickers
My rickshaw slows to a halt
I want to move on,run
The life in me is leaving,
has left


Endless

The gusto of early mornings has died
The draught has dried up and coughed
blood,of birds that can't fly beyond a rock
Pigs move restlessly,They could be better clowns
But clowns live endlessly,The faces behind faces
never alive,never die
I'm heading somewhere,the fatality of things
has held me by the throat
I spew dust,trying  to break free
The driver asks for directions
I've been down this road many times
Clueless,Names have never been my idea of love
Ideas have never made it close to love
i'm not stupid,i just end up being
Stop here,This seems like it
There are a thousand windows
prompters of great work,i suppose
i don't do good work,Move on
The meter is running within itself
maybe strapped to a rat
The rat is me
Run you rodent!! The ticking is the clock,
Your heart has one too



'tuk-tuk' is the sound that an autorickshaw makes,
in some places the rickshaws themselves are referred to as
tuk-tuk's

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