Sofa at the Eatery
For the sofa at the eatery, all are equal.
How law of the land is supposed to be,
love of the land is supposed to be.
With a thrust equivalent to their body weight,
she holds everyone at the same scientific state of rest.
Heartbreak, blooming love and final goodbye
rests upon her with equal charm.
In every person, she finds a new column of news.
Piecing together the words that fall upon her,
she keeps abreast with the world.
Her charmed life, a compilation of the peak hours
where people crowd around her, as if a queen.
Her fall emulates a failing actress or nation,
lonely and broken, far away from the limelight.
Her loud cries, drowned by screeching wheels,
the noisy street and the deaf ears of time.
Chubby, skinny, ugly, attractive, cheat,
cheated, dark, fair, lonely, busy..do not forget
sofa holds all her dear ones at the same warmth.
She knows this is the poise Godmen strive for,
this is the presence superstars dream of,
this is the dignity all nameless creatures seek.
Sofa watches the beggar perched at the entrance,
hopes he too makes it to her lap once.
The sofa is the forgotten love story of a call girl.
Wandering light haunts the soul of the sofa
imprisoned in the eatery:
the true love of sunlight,
the glowing love of imitating bulbs,
the paramour love of midnight moon.
Aren’t the misplaced umbrella and newspaper,
memorabilia left behind by lovers? She despairs.
The sofa at the eatery is the God of longing,
waiting for the return of lost love.
Aditya Shankar is a Pushcart and Best of the Net nominated Indian poet, flash fiction author, and translator. His work has appeared in international journals and anthologies of repute and translated into Malayalam and Arabic. Books: After Seeing (2006), Party Poopers (2014), and XXL (Dhauli Books, 2018) that was shortlisted for the Yuva Puraskar by Sahitya Akademi, India. He lives in Bangalore, India.
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