You appeared before me like a road not on the map
Freshly paved and pounded flat
And I, having just inflated my high performance tires
Greened the light and shed my hat
No sign of speed bumps or sink holes to rattle my nerves
I vroomed down your stretches and rolled through your curves.
With the top down, in the pouring rain,
I gun it and floor it; not wanting to see
The Signs of caution in front of me.
Hands on the wheel, Mister!
Eyes on the road, Sister!
“Oh please be the road I just know you can be!”
(as though you could alter your path to satisfy me…)
The road beneath does nothing to protest my bolt.
After all, it knows where it goes and cares not that I don’t.
As it yawns and bends,
I find myself wondering where it ends.
For what’s at the end of a road more often than not?
Nothing but a big ol’ parking lot!
And why should I care
How long it takes to finally get there.
So I down shift a gear and slow-up my pace.
Though now I can feel the rain on my face.
It’s okay though ‘cause now I know
I’ve no particular place to go.
I might as well lose the map, and as I grow older,
I’ll rest my vehicle on your wide soft shoulder.

Every drop of tear,
Every breath I inhaled,
Every beat of my heart,
Beseeched  for you to come,
Such that the clock in the hall chimed your name,
The kettle on the stove whistled,
The hoover vroomed,
The gentle breeze fluttered
The rain on the roof top tattooed,
My cat meowed,
For my sake called out your name,
But you never came.
17/4/2019

When every day is a Sunday
where home is the whole world
Then time and space remain the same

What happens?
time has to be spent in some guise
you binge watch
you cook
you Sleep
you read
you eat
you speculate

your hobbies overdone
your to-do list remains empty
you get bored
you get feared
Suddenly time has become surplus
Space has become limited

Are you free now than ever
or Tied even tighter?
the past looms larger
the future seems bleaker
there is nothing new in the news
your compound is now your city walls

Seclusion and sanitisers have rightly
become the order of the day
gaining pounds and e-courses are quietly
accepted without any say
yes, social distancing keeps men away
originally, mobile phones were doing that anyway

Slow days and with no change,
time and space have become really one
Einstein is right once again

Many businesses have become online
But none seem to fall in line

The rotations have stopped
the buses, the cars, the trains
the machineries
the schools, the offices, the factories
The only thing that runs are days,
But also -
the TVs, the phones, the internet,
and the social media is extra busy

Everywhere there’s waiting -
queues for essentials
students for classes
travellers for destination
purses for spending
But nothing is happening

Cars didn’t vroomed
suits weren’t worn
nor shoes got dusted

Corridors are empty
Roads have become bigger
as the traffic got smaller
Highways got to go nowhere
Markets and malls are getting colder

Has The great run of Modernity halted?
Is Civilisation taking a breather?
has History paused?

But how long
None of us know

Still our hearts say
Finally, one day
Things will be back to normal

But on that day
would man have unlearned -
his shopping
his motoring
his dining
And all his material ostentations?

Would have this bare period
taught man to live a life that’s unhurried
That Thoreau & Wordsworth learnt in the woods
To live a life with just the essential material goods
A golden return our pristine roots

Would have man learnt to live a simple life
learned through these hard days?
Or would he rush to his former ways?
Will the world on that day be as normal
as it was or
will that day bring a new normal?

- R.Sivakumar
teachnew@outlook.com

Each June for three years, we vroomed
Up the back of a mighty seaside brontosaurus.
The Judge and I knew the deal.
Avoid talk of religion and politics and go to church each Sunday.
And be nice, share and enjoy yourselves. Love you boys.

Whilst we lazed about, cooked and played Sega Mega Drive,
Charlie dashed off in his crisp white BMW
To do Troy knows what
Utterly oblivious (or secretly oblivious) of the Trojan horse that now lay within.

Upon a received revelation of the Rock, I retained reconnaissance
Of Charles’ cunning charms and the beguiling of his brood,
Leaving me unswayed by the generous gifts and family feasts,
Adding to my appetite to attack.

Made to bathe together, Charlie’s Cinder later scalded me
With a coal that turned my heart to ash,
Elevating his own ego and solidifying his own existence
By scoffing at my member as a little worm.

Time to breach the horse, slay and burn,
Taking along only the Helen of healing humanity with me.
No, better yet – I’ll leave you to your adulterous ways.
Forsaking duty, filial predators and mercenary megalomania.

Now that I know you, I wish to flee from your house forever.
Stop me so that you can destroy me. Little secret – aim for the head.