Friday, April 20, 2012

The Bookshop Girl

The city was in a savage rush
Like a horse on high steroid,
Nero's Rome and Hitler's Paris
Both Burning Asteroids. 

They tore and stretched and then they pulled
The fabric of civil Rights
And in the By-lanes a bookshop glowed
Bathed by an Angel's Light.

The  tenderness of her silky voice
Drowned anarchy's din,
Her shampooed hair and her fragrant scarf
Out-smelled burning skins.

Who was she i had to know
Her color, her God and her name
Was she a Jew from Nuremberg
Or maybe Mussolini's Dame. 

Was she the minister's daughter
Weaving stories at night to survive
Was she history's Anne Frank
Who did make it out alive.

She smiled and spoke and Whispered on
Slaying me with her touch
Holding her gaze and my breath
I winked at the church.

Gushing and hushing she led me in,
Walking out the door,
The shards of longing pricked me red,
My heartbreak tale of gore.

I ran, I ran, A riot within
An old Odyssey and enemies new,
A "jihad", a "haj" to win her back
As I saw her in the queue.

Her nod was invitation sweet
She swayed and looked my way
Crunching the iceberg and swallowing the tempest,
I smiled and walked away. 

Why didn't i speak to her
Who uprooted me from my roots
What if she weren't Scheherazade
But Cinderella without her boots.  


5 comments:

kaykuala said...

A silent admirer should make good with time. Great write!

Hank

W.k.kortas said...

I think you're ill-served by the end-rhyme scheme here; it doesn't seem to serve a particular formal or thematic purpose, and I think it boxes you in on several occasions. The central conceit of the poem is a very clever and original one, and there are some strong lines, but rhyme is not your friend here. There is a very fine piece hidden in here, and I think junking the rhyme scheme will help you find it.

Herotomost said...

I see less of the city life that other see in this and more of the undying need to connect, the fact that someone you don't even know can cause such desperation and stir the mind is an outstanding human trait. Loved this.

sayan said...

HANK...thank you..:-)

@ W.K.Kortas...well, i generally don't write in rhyme...i prefer free verse, and i think it shows here..but glad that u thought that this piece had potential..will keep your suggestion in mind...

@ HEROTOMOST...yes..she did..the bookshop girl

Margaret said...

The civil rights part I don't understand... but it is an intriguing poem... I think you should not worry about end rhymes... if they work, great... it flows beautifully without... I'd like to see another stab at this.