Did you just hear the six o’clock bell?
Aloud it rang as children of the New World rush out
Into their Old Worlds,
In corporate straight-jackets though.
No child but as us would wait for a bell without a din.
Laughter at a wooden table by the canal,
Drooling in the local liquor and music
Of the mysterious land of Zhong-Guo.
Jingles of merriment from the day’s winnings
Sounds of silver to be shared by algorithms pre-defined,
Not exactly a following of the heart.
And then, a mind that misses you takes over.
A soul that finds its way to the abode of its queen.
An enchanted moment. For you. For me.
That saw you stare at my eyes with a smile on your face,
A teardrop too, but that of happiness.
As I love you instantly and home you in against my chest,
Your eyes still locked in mine.
And then came the usual scribbling;
Worthy enough to share this limited lifetime with you…
The shimmer of the water in a lovely canal
Touched by the tender breeze of the evening.
The orange on the green waters of Suzhou,
As dusk draws in its slumber and surrenders itself to the night.
The orange was the reflection of the sky.
‘Blue is not always my true colour’, it emphasised.
A lonely man staring from a bridge across the waters,
In search of nothing, really.
Just feeling blessed to witness
Another glorious sun recede on another silent earth-line,
As smooth and placid as a woman’s body.
The brick-and-stone above, staring at themselves
Not worried about the thunder anymore;
Not a thought about the stains of rains they fear,
As the lonely man on the bridge longs for the rain
To add chaos to the shimmer of ordered-orange below.
Shounak's Daydreams 