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An old lady in a city
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Aug 2011 Contest, English Poetry |
The harbingers of cityness-
the retired but not tired people,
often, just like the cities they live in,
were born on farmers’ lands.
They usually go for morning and evening walks.
The bright yellowness of mornings,
when mixed with a little grey of experience,
becomes the exact colour of evenings.
A circle is a well-known shape of time and cosmos.
While the city takes its toddler steps,
stumbles, falls, steps out of innocence,
a woman, the colour of a colour between gold and silver,
stands in the backdrop of a bright yellow wall,
on an equally bright yellow morning,
regains her childhood in a coy smile.
Well, its a nice explanation of the picture.
poem = 8/10
@ulhas,
Thank you.
Beautifully penned poem on the subject
Liked very much.
@Vishvnand,
Thanks for the appreciation.
awesome…!! I like how you took literal inspiration from this picture! 🙂
@Preeti Datar,
Thank you.
Saurabh,
very good, love reading it.
The language reads effortlessly. There are depths to these verses, I feel.
I can identify with the first verse – although my journey was from small towns to big city to rural village.
“often, just like the cities they live in,
were born on farmers’ lands.”
The use of colours and circles is very well done.
“They usually go for morning and evening walks.
The bright yellowness of mornings,
when mixed with a little grey of experience,
becomes the exact colour of evenings.”
” steps out of innocence,
……………..
regains her childhood in a coy smile.” v- good linkage here.
@Gion Gion,
Thank you.
The new cities of India, Navi Mumbai, Noida, Gurgaon, etc, were literally born out of farmlands.
The majority of people who ‘invested’ in property were either retired or close to retirement.
The second major group of people who did the same were young professionals who couldn’t afford the primary city and hence chose the satellite twins. They brought along parents.
The result being that there is a large population of senior citizens in such cities.
These very new cities (specifically the one I live in, Navi Mumbai) are very young and still getting used to their identities. Their self-actualisation and realisation are similar to that of toddlers.
This went well with the similarity of old-age with childhood and the romantic notion of old-age being a regression to childhood.
The Hindu/buddhist cyclical time and the city and the old lady being at diametrically opposite sides of the circle of creation/destruction is what this poem is about.
@saurabh,
And the old lady has a smile too similar to that of children, along with the coy awareness of being photographed. This is what sparked it off
extremely beautiful…very nicely written..:)
@sonal,
Thank you.
Congratulations, the winner, Saurabh.
@medhini,
Thanks, this feels good!
nice use of words about a lovely morning of a city as reckoned by the elderly experience of those whose youth has taken a feel of all the changes taken place first hand.
@sapna,
Thank you.
@saurabh,
Hearty congrats!
Timely poem commemorating World Elders’ day celebration.
Kusum