Saturday, June 11, 2011

The Rising Sun- Arkoprabha Das


His hands moved at a faster pace
as he saw the darkness closing in….
as the twilight faded like the end of a dream…..
so did the sweat on his face.
His wet duster licked the table clean…
and he piled up the ceramics in a corner
as the gentleman on the chair….
looked at the novice in disgrace!

He stopped near the next table.
In his hands rattled a bunch of coins…
he gazed at them in juvenile delight
with a sight; undefined but stable.
He pocketed them with great care
and cleaned the table in the dim light.
The gentleman breathed out impatience and said,
“ Is that boy gonna take the whole night?”

Table after table, saucer after saucer…
he cleaned up everything on his way
wiping his wet face on his rags
and panting heavily around the corner,
he caused yet some more delay….
Out of disgust, the gentleman could only say,
“May be I will have to come another day….”

“Please don’t go..I..beg of you”
the weak tanned boy could barely state
the reason of his being late…
“You count coins at every breath…
how long do you think I can wait?”
the gentleman shouted in disgust….
The boy was broken but he calmly said,
“the coins will buy me anything they say…”
he pointed at the waiters moving around…
The gentleman asked him, quite astound,
“What will you buy with those coins….?”
“I will buy education with those
and live a better life someday….”

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