Water drips from leaky parapet,
A universe inside each drop,
Suspended in apprehension.
It drops to the ground,
breaks in ephemera.
A universe explodes.
Scatters its elements in hope
To find life, only to evaporate
Into oblivion and chimaera.

Urban creepers and climbers
Locked in a battle for dominance
With concrete, organic and alive.
Each asserting existence, growing
And seeking new territory.
The utilitarian human mind
Reinforced concrete against green
A wise choice - less colours in palette,
New dreams and hopes illusory.

Lichens form on dreams,
Moulds and fungi abound.
The dead graffiti stares,
Keeping data of our thoughts.
It’s lifeless piercing gaze
Lays secret desires bare.
The wandering poor aphorist
Plants the seeds of truth
In this sprawling maze.


In this urban wilderness
I send my dreams out every morn.
Straight from my heart, they move
Through an orgy of hopes and diseases.
Daily they return, each evening
Bloodied, bruised, battered, baffled.
They return to rest for the night,
In the nest of my feeble beating heart
To venture the next day in a new beginning.

First Published on Visual Verse Vol 9 Chapter 7 (May 2022 Issue)

© Abhijit Chatterjee