Four Replies for Joshua - I

Tangy, Mathikere, August  

Sailen Routray

Photograph of Bangalore Fort Taken in 2018
Photo Credit - Wikimedia Commons

Bengaluru. Bangalore. Bengaluru.
Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar.
 
When one starts feeling like a tourist in one’s own city,
it is time to go back home.
 
But the coconut tree that used to burst through
baba’s garage, like a sleek mongrel bitch, is gone;
 
The faces that used to litter
the jogging tracks of IG Park have other masks;
 
The flock of dreams that used to chase me in
Sailashree Vihar has nested in Mathikere now.
 
Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar.
Bangalore. Bengaluru. Bangalore. 

A Street in Pokhariput Area of Bhubaneswar in 2010
Photo Credit - Wikimedia Commons

Note: This poem was first published in the webzine 'Muse India' as part of a larger poetic conversation with Bangalore based writer and poet Joshua Muyiwa.