Four Cities

Spadika
Spadika
Nov 1 · 1 min read

Now and then-
I feel nostalgia for all the cities I’ve been
For a day, a month, a yearning
As if for a home that never was
I feel a wistful longing
For all the cities I am not in.

The smoke of Delhi, in these moments
Seems sweet in its suffocation
Laden with its smells of street food, mixed
With perspiration
The crowds of Bombay, now and then
Seem like a romantic cacophony
Is it not a privilege to feel alone
Claiming a square foot in the big city?
And Chennai, oh Chennai, where I dwelt
Longest, grew fastest, felt lowest
I would be lying if I said a part of me
Is not wishing I’m breathing in its warm air
Exhaling, soaring high with migratory friends

Now and then-
I want to live four lives, one in each city
Each life as rich as my memories.
Maybe I will then no longer be nostalgic, or
Maybe nostalgia as a feeling, is fickle
Only setting sight on what it can’t have.

Spadika

Spadika

Selected works of a mind abuzz.

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