Day breaks
In complete darkness,
The dreaded power outage strikes,
Got ready for fruitless wait
In an office
devoid of soul,
A small bureaucratic lapse,
A document not submitted,
Promises vague,
And wait for another month;
A notice small,
Hallelujah,
Crews are working
to identify the cause,
Just roast a little while till
power comes back;
A good day for walk in the mall,
Window shopping
As zombies pass by,
A dog pulled by his master,
His soulful eyes
looks at me,
Tails wagging
for a chance to lick,
His master
mumbles an apology,
As I step aside;
Prod, prod, prod,
I count my steps,
The smart watch says
Not enough;
The food court beckons,
As blood sugar spikes,
Some egg plant tofu,
with seasoned fish
and pad thai,
An old couple,
Lost and lonely
slowly eat their food,
An youong couple,
Highschool kids,
on their summer break,
Lost in their cell phone,
in a virtual world,
Forgets there is one real;
I sit down to eat,
A few banter
in social media
with my friends,
( and as my favorite Sardarji
once said,
“Malice towards one and all”,
I proclaim);
My first bite,
The phone rings,
Notification,
I glace at the screen,
Power is restored,
screams the message,
and my pocket is light
of a few bucks,
I slowly eat,
Trying to savor my food,
Alas,
All salt tastes the same;
I have still miles to go
To walk my ten thousand
in air-conditioned comfort;
Oh, I forgot to mention,
In the multiplex of
the ubiquitous mall,
Openheimer reigns,
Is it woth it, I debate;
Ting, the phone rings,
Google reminds,
Have an online class to attend
to address my tinnitus;
How fast time flies
When one has time to spare,
Reminder of a lonely planet
perhaps;
As I finish my food and rise,
A trip unfinished,
And walk back to yhe car,
There the dog again,
His tail wags,
Gives me a furtive look and
licks my feet,
His eyes comes alive, happy,
And so am I
to at last
Find some life;
Power is restored they say,
But powerless feel I,
I drive back home with
A picture penned,
Of a day
Transient.
Pranabendra Sarma, August 18, 2023
San Jose, California.
Fleeting Muse 