THIS SMALL TOWN
-
Gopi Kottoor (India)
We must all
get to this little town.
It looks so
tiny and is all so quaint
though it’s
supposed to be crowded
and it always
looks as though
there’s no one
here.
We aren’t even
looking for any one though;
No little
chicken soul fried for our daily meat,
no fish, no
dear pet gone
before us,
wagging its tail here to receive us;
No poet, no
painter, you used to know,
not even our
beloved.
Sometimes the
little town can get really big
as you get a
bit closer, the way it makes you
all so utterly
alone
just before
you reach here.
All eyes droop
of friends known,
of lips that
smiled and lied;
To this small
town with you,
no one is
coming with you this far.
Hands wave
like balloons in the distance.
The little town
is up a hill,
all full
of evening mists
from where you
look down;
There’s a
wedding down there
and a
birthday dance;
And the one
who loved you, beneath a tree
in
another’s arms.
****