☛ We are inviting submission in the field of literature and literary theory in the form of article, book review, poem, short story, travelogue and interview for our regular April issue (Vol. 6, No. 2). The last date for submission is 31 March, 2025.

Merthyr and Mumbai - Mike Jenkins (U.K.)

 


MERTHYR AND MUMBAI

-         Mike Jenkins (U.K.)

 

 

Dry April turns to fire.

Smoke from the mountain-side

choking air, destroyers with lighters

have fled. I recall Mumbai

skyline with pollution haze hanging

every single day like smoke

from a thousand crematoria.

 

 

Grass snakes, foxes , field mice

fleeing or dying, burnt alive ;

while people take to the roads

back to villages with paltry belongings ;

gorse and bracken , the shanty towns

abandoned as flames crown

the ridges , the car parks.

 

 

Where will they go?

Nests ashened, ramshackle homes

left to the monsoon season.

Breathe again, but for how long?

Fire is following ,

will it catch them?

 

****