Under the city we grew
Creatures of darkness.
No eyes ever set upon us
Except when cracks of light
Split the night
And between the flashes
That rent the sky
And the thunder
That drowned us out
Yes
You heard us.
Murmur,
Rustle, Rumble, Roar.
Like a swarm we invaded.
Yes, you saw us.
The shadow sweeping across–
Your beloved city of lights
All your human sounds
We had consumed
In all the centuries
When this city had breathed with another rhythm.
Photo copyright: (c) Nishant Vats
ElectriCity, Mumbai 2008.
This poem was inspired by the above photo of the Mumbai city skyline, with the Powai hills faintly visible in the background. In spite of all the light in the picture, the darkness is what seeped through, bringing with it a vision of the city in a post-human world.
the voice not spoken 