VEIL

-AAKRITI THATAL

The cars lessen in number 
Their honks more distinct
Birds slow down their pace 
Singing tales of resting. 
Purple tinted night,
Pink tinted day
Clouds and the sky
Covet another day. 
The cries of the lesbian 
Her aberrant state
Sounds of fetter
Heard till the nearby estate.

The shutters scroll down
As the shops now close
Goodbye hugs and kisses 
Curfew and its big nose. 
Grey smokes of cigarettes
Yellow High
Dark does the covering 
No hiding by. 
The TV volumes lower
The lights light up
Tourists flood in 
The nearest hub. 
An added layer or two
The skin embraces
As the cool of the breeze
Now slowly professes

Its arrival now calls for
A bowl of warm soup
Dip in, a bread stick
Swallow a rice gulp. 
Tired bodies 
Resort to soft beds 
Resort to cots
Resort to the cold floors.
Some tired bodies 
Do not resort at all. 
A lullaby here
A sleeping pill there 
Two or more late night pornography
A depressed soul, bare. 
Pitch black ten o'clocks 
Some blue lit streets 
Lighted by a mobile phone 
Yes, another tweet. 
Some cries over phone calls
Some laughs over a birthday cake
Twelve o'clock hugs 
Twelve o'clock slits. 
High heels pierce her soul
As the bare footed sleeps
Her short skirt tight
Another's pyjamas' keeps. 
Not a single skyscraper
Not a single train
But bloods do bleed
And bodies sell to sustain.

Two o'clock now. 
The girl is paralysed in her sleep
Another gasps for breath
As he removes his manhood from the deep. 
The femur makes noises 
Haunting half asleep heads
Lucidity seeps in,
Directing dreams of the dead.

Some alarm clocks now tick
Some pens finally rest 
A schoolbag is packed
For the tuition's nest. 
Cereal bowls and milk glasses
A person in her sleep passes
The sky takes a colour
Blue to yellow
Seven o'clock again, 
Another hello.V