THE CITY BRIDGE

    




 

      

           











                        1)            The public rush has reached its peak
                                    Homeward bound all rushed--no break!
                                    A smothering, stuffy time without an inch of space.
                                    A hectic break-neck schedule one has to face;
                                    The stinking waters pretended calm
                                    The setting sun--- a mild, red warm;
                                     A timid breeze sqeezed past through crowd;
                                     Perched on stone-benches beneath the dusky shroud
                                     Of dusty smoke and bustling din,
                                     Beside the moss-laden lake stagnant green,
                                     The tired people sank down to pass some time
                                     Munching peanuts, a lazy pastime.
                                     No poetic thrill in polluted clime
                                     No poetic feelings outpoured in rhyme;

                      2)            Darkness thickens with dumb cold night
                                     The bridge dazzles with myriad lights;
                                     The frantic rush slowly dies down
                                     The statues stand like sentinels brown;
                                     A lone lover sighs and gazes at the sky
                                     The orphan-children in rags beg and cry;
                                     This bridge, a mute haven for city-life
                                     A brief respite from rushing strife;
                                     A symbol of brotherhood and peace
                                     Linking the straying hearts with sociable ease.

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          23rd May, 2015                                                  Somaseshu Gutala


         Note :

          The squalid and polluted surroundings of crowded cities form a major
          theme in modern poetry. Poets like T.S.Eliot, W.H.Auden and Baudlaire
          exposed the spiritual isolation and mental stress of modern urbanites.
          In this poem I also tried to do in a similar way. 
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