DHIRENDRA KUMAR SHAH
stairway companion
the first line arrives as the guard nods
resignedly he unlocks the gate
his grief fresh after his wife's death
he smiles the briefness of a clown's happiness
jolted already to the next line's enjambment
the first stanza finds my page address
my tired travelled legs trudge through
the foyer swarming with familiar faces
like the woman in a black burqa
who plays hopscotch
tossing a stone upon the course
which is drawn with white chalk
the hopping leg and marker
scribble an epitaph
a graven image I carry in my heart
the regular rhythm of wall clocks
its stolid language of distance cannot possibly
fathom my footsteps which tap wooden stairs
and echo news to the walls I am almost there
a line can take an eternity
or a second's silence to arrive
and then a flood across the paper
the first-floor welcome of the dog
his tail-wagging woof and snort
he scratches the air with his paw
as if it were a hand holding
the history of our daily communion
we share a biscuit and a quiet rhyme
the reprieve gives me strength enough to climb
to the next floor
and what awaits but the quarrelling voices
of second floor residents as I graze
my ear to the wall lizards scurry down
to gobble moths like falling verses
that quench my hunger as I lick the
shape sound smell of curling letters
the straight-line certainty of the caravan ants
attend my slow ascent
finally I reach my floor and fumble for the key
my world spinning breathless at the sight
of blossoming tender streels of potted plants
or the children's graffiti shimmering on fractured walls
this final point where all thoughts and lines
loom with the weight of accumulated luggage
each detail pronounces the promise of arrival
having found a friend to accompany me
this poem is long enough to last
from gate to doorway and beyond
Dhirendra Kumar Shah lives in Mumbai, originally from Kalimpong, India. He recently completed his Master's degree in English Literature with a research paper on Toni Morrison's novels. He works part-time as an academic content writer for colleges affiliated to the University Of Mumbai. Dhirendra is the Chief Editor of Teesta Rangeet – an online poetry journal (annual print publication) with a focus on Indian Nepali poets.
