Poem published in Madras Musings

Water, Water Everywhere


Everywhere I go it is water-
the lack of it actually,
as urban scarcity and heat hatch up a conspiracy
barging through my fragile system
like thick boiling lava seeping through my pores,
and all I can do is just wait till eternity
and then, FILL water
into drums and buckets, pots and pans,
anything I can lay my hands on
for tomorrow may never come.
Like a drowning man's last bid at survival
(a log of wood, a basket, even a straw)
I store water water everywhere,
until, needs satiated,
precious water exhausted,
the law of nature comes into effect -
just as water flowed in, it trickled out
leaving me holding cans
cackling in their emptiness.


(published in Madras Musings, April 1-15, 2000 issue)