Death stands at a distance
all day all night, smiling, unblinking,
like that picture under the staircase.
Are you waiting for the last bus?
Do you know, the sands are slowly
rolling through the gaps of your fingers?
Tighten your fist. You are enlightened  to
pick one – the coffin or a life of action.
From one birth to another, augment the civilization.
Does [...]

That foot that has walked
on thorns
all through the day for you.
That foot which has shown
you foot-steps to follow.
That foot.
That foot behind the orange sun
has walked through arches
bare foot
on fire, on water
near parapets
has cracked doors and windows
for you to enter safe.
That foot.
That foot walked, crossed the
never-ending roads
when you aspired for the colossal.
That foot. Your passport
to utopia, [...]

Touching the harmonium’s black
keys, singing a dhun and stopping
a Florida night in a Boston’s
I couldn’t make out your melody
was sweeter than any Demerara
sugar. The closest we came
to conversation: Are you off
on holiday then? No. I’m finished.
So quickly? Yes. Goodbye? Yes.
You toss that cabbage
head into your room. I do not know
your name. I [...]