The Secret Chasm

Bewildering amongst the chatter
Of the old Kolkata street
Promised for a better tomorrow
On the asphalt turf
The little heads creep up & down
In the din of the Howrah bridge

Floating in the music of classical heart throbs
Enchanted by the concrete caverns
Pitter-patter with the falling rain drops
They hide under the shady plane
Chowringee Lane just means a path
A deafening crowd is but a political propaganda

What stands for fun is a free meal
Or chasing kites & dogs with friends
Hide & seek is what life means to them
As they remain hidden from all eyes
Except when they pass a windscreen with a duster
Or steal a laughter in the sidelines.

Surmising through the childhood years
Every day they live amongst moving shadows
Which never notice them
Lightning their footpath homes
Are none but their twinkling eyes
Conjuring a dream every now & then
Though it is a struggle to keep alive

They cook, they sweep, run & sheep
Work every day to survive
Years fade like billboard ads
Cleaning, washing & doing all what’s there
To find, if there exists
A way to the Secret Chasm.