Highway Diaries: A poem by Neeti Parti

 
4 AM - It’s been a long night
Heavy trucks thundering up and down
I think I need to stretch my back
In a lighter vein- I am quite a stretch you know!
 
6 AM – The stubble burning smoke has formed a thick screen
There’s a drunk maniac tearing up my North side
And a speed junky coming from the Southern end
Aaaah! As I feared…….
 
6. 30 AM -A pile-up now! Twenty-eight vehicles in all!!
I am strewn with shards of glass and spatters of blood
There’s a child screaming for his mother, while a motorcycle is burning
Do you think these people are carrying valid licenses?
 
12 Noon – The sun is shining hard on my face
Myriad patterns of hot air melt my surface
I need more trees I shout…
An empty bag of chips is hurled out of a window to muffle my voice!
 
5 PM - I spot my favorite kind of travelers
A family singing merrily. What bliss!
It gives me hope that the night to follow 
Will not be filled with horrors of senseless deaths.



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