BOMBAY BONHOMIE

I dripped my dreams in ink
Let my quill kiss the crescent moon
Searching for a hum and melody
It glided over the tangerine Bombay noon.
Trailing on cusp of false glories and hapless dreams
Buffeted by the Colaba breeze
It felt life bursting at its seams.

The swathe of marine
Dog eared Colonial whispers
They all echoed storied lives.
Water borne wishes were by the sea link
Fleeting chances
Gargle of tinsel tides.

Revolting images let out a bellow
Skyscraping through bent hovels and chawls
Perfumed soirees and halos
A novel written on marbled floors of malls.

My quill found thoughts fermenting
In July monsoon puddles.
Midnight gargoyles practised perfection across Fort's dizzying heights.
Eavesdropping on penthouse admonishments
Strewn at city's cob webbed frames,
It touched hurt knee caps
As the skyline spewed gilded names.

Arches of Regal cinema beamed glittering gold
Resurrecting reels of an epoch old
Urbanity's sanctum sanctorum
An epic in the making
Which the titans call home.

Of all that jazz and whiskey flavoured sass.

Moonlighting poets sit here in quartets
Playing downtown string sets,
With grinding wheels' percussion revoking neon lights hoisted on the horizon.

From movie posters,
My quill received shivers of mortality,
Dabbed in fluorescent lines
A theatre with back entries
An on stage act of mime.

There lies the Opera House,
Its a sleeping beauty
But the city resounds a ballad in mezzo soprano.

There is Leopold
A dove gliding upon such undertows, with such inspiration.
Fostering beer guts and the rat pack.
From where vintage superstars rebuff trained senses
Where bullet holes plastered with big city laughs are melded.

Oh, my quill is a worn traveller,world weary and beholden.
I observe him,
As the Queen's necklace is lulled in a lullaby.
While hoofs of Victoria carriage horses are dimmed.

My quill,at last,out feathered
Still inexperienced,
Returns to the tip of my gilded pen.

The city snores,
Complacency its pillow
Insomnia its betokened gift.
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#This poem is inspired by memories of Bombay, as regards a recent eventful trip.