CityLights!

I was in eighth standard

when I learnt 

working of a heart 

my biology teacher taught us 

the functions of the arteries 

and how they transport blood 

to keep the heart alive

Last night I was wandering 

around the corners of the sharp lanes 

carved out of the old buildings

and it struck me

how those dingy lanes

resembling those arteries 

hiding so many secrets  

are important for this city 

to survive

There's a lake 

at the centre of the city 

over flooded with 

the emotions 

of men and women 

confessing their first love

the lake never dries 

giving them the lungs 

to breathe

There's a wall

at the far end of the city 

painted

in shades of different colours

when I was a child,

I used to talk to it

used to rant about 

all the wrongs in the world

and unlike the humans

it listened and listened 

and I continued 

and continued 

now when I stare at it

It stares back at me

I can see an ocean 

of dreams, of stories 

in those dark grey iris

maybe, they were kids 

like me

who found solace 

in that calm, composed place

During some days I feel 

my city is a sky

full of birds 

and clouds 

and rainbows

some day it shines violet

some day it shines red

but most of the days 

it's shades of all colours

I have watched 

men falling 

under the weights of their desires

but never this city 

buckling

with the loads 

of its expectations 

always standing straight

with the foundation 

of all its love

and for all its people