Waddling in the fields
Chasing grasshoppers
Filling my basket with greens
this was the life I left behind
when I first moved to Chennai
Life looked better
Posh and modern
until one day in class
a friend asked me
how I dodged bullets in the streets
to come this far
and some men auctioning my worth
in the streets
from hundred
to five hundred rupees
So, I left.
Delhi sounded warmer
Until I had to sit
For the final call of interview
who ridiculed me for
what I aspired to become
Still, I stayed.
In my first job
my lunch break was separate
they blamed it on the work
so each day
I rummaged my lunch box alone
but scrumptiously
even though they called me a cow
when I walked in
saying I must’ve eaten
Even the grass in the lawn
Still, I stayed.
In my last job
My colleague called me midnight
seeking numbers of chinkies for a hand job
or what else
I wouldn’t ask
So, I left
I came home
to the place where we dodged love in the streets
And could be aspire to be anyone I wanted to be
to a place where compassion was our worth
where meals were shared in a plate
to a place where I could call it my own
I came home.
