Dream traveler

In the dream

I had reached the railway station.

Now I run through the hallway

Dodging people and baggage

Beggars sprawled on the floor

Asleep.

Slipping, cutting across long queues where

Travelers stood patiently

Tired, shoulders sloping, eyes vacant

Unmindful of the dust, sweat and the sullen children.

Past the metal detector and the indifferent policemen,

Frantic, I look up and down the platform and then

Speed to the stairway over the rails, to the next platform.

Now I pant, I feel pain in my chest, I gasp.

Down the steps, past the vendors of tea, water and snacks

Past the trolleys with sacks of mail.

I have this crushing dull pain

In my heart

This vacuum blowing up

Emptying my mind of all

My limbs droop, muscles melt

As waves of weariness spread up

Like invading armies of ants.

I lean back to a cold iron pillar.

On my left, darkness lifts

Unfurling the rails

Glinting in the morning sun

As the train pulls out

Ahead of me,

Without me.

************* Balachandran, Trivandrum 15.06.2009