The Metropolis: Monotony

The old town
huddled in sorrow
folds in on itself
arms and legs drawn tight
quivering
head bowed in fear. 

Ancestral houses
memories of generation’s
fray and unravel
tearing apart piece by piece. 

Roots cannot shift
They are buried deep.
Bodies cannot leave
they are fastened there

Narrow, unkempt
yet gleaming still
with the spark of memory 

Old address or new
life’s drumbeat
sounds from the same place 

But today
the metropolis stretches wide,
its towers rise into the sky.
Wealth and finance stake their claims. 

Lives rush breathlessly,
unsettled, unfinished

All caught in one rhythm,
one tune:
sameness,
monotony.

Image © Varala Anand