Cumolus

 

_{Rounded fractals}

_{Growing slowly, ever so slowly,}

_{Bright, almost too white}

_{Against skies of blue –}

_{Ah! Beautiful, cumulus clouds.}

 

_{Do they ever make you happy?}

_{They elate me, I must admit –}

_{But not because}

_{Of their existence,}

_{Rather, in what they reflect}

 

_{A young boy alone,}

_{Lonely after school}

_{Staring out of grilled windows}

_{In a tiny apartment in North Calcutta}

_{Finding absolute liberty}

 

_{The earth below is crammed}

_{Tiny roads, old derelict houses}

_{Men in red gamchas}

_{Taking rushed afternoon baths}

_{From time-taps}

 

_{Hand rickshaws squeezing by,}

_{The tea stall owner}

_{Taking a break}

_{Summer’s heat slowly squeezing}

_{Every single breath of day}

 

_{The potted plants droop}

_{The heavy DC fan whirrs}

_{Slowly, noisily}

_{It too has given in}

_{To the squalor of summer}

 

_{But outside, high above}

_{Freedom booms on God’s canvas}

_{While the boy wonders}

_{Why it looks}

_{Like a still-life painting?}

 

_{The painting still hangs somewhere}

_{Neatly framed,}

_{Ghibli-esque clouds floating}

_{And a boy trapped, but smiling}

_{At a large canvas frame}

 

_{I return to my work-desk}

_{The glass windows distract;}

_{Perhaps, the clouds never moved}

_{They remained still}

_{Eternally still}

 

_{Inching slowly}

_{Ever so slowly}

_{Though the world moved ahead}

_{Sometimes looking back and smiling}

_{At a distant summer’s cumulus days…}

_{19th October, 2026}