They stand- as a tall tree stands just ahead
on a midnight street, frozen in sodium vapor lamps
for a moment , then move ahead.
Crossing the street like teenage boys and girls-
they hob step and jump while the clock tower sucks
in the moonlight, ticking in the wider space.
Silver light shimmers across the six-point crossing,
red and green lights turn all amber for safety and
love collects in the nomadic starlings.
Their eyes are empty; a host of nightbirds take
flight in the dark sky, a cat stays motionless
under the concrete roof, all doors and windows shut.
The night is more alive now than sleepy,
two shadows dance slowly in the midnight breeze
while the city lay crawling at the doorway.
@gopallahiri
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Gopal Lahiri
Picture Nick Victor
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Gopal Lahiri is a bilingual poet, critic, editor, writer and translator with 33 books published, including eight solo/jointly edited books. His poetry and prose are published across more than one hundred journals and anthologies globally His poems are translated in 18 languages and published in 19 countries. He has been nominated for Pushcart Prize for poetry in 2021 and Best of the Nets for poetry in 2025. His ‘Selected Poems’ was published by Classix, New Delhi. His recent book ‘Wasp and Filament ‘ was published by Hogg Press, Madison, US.
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