Ghazal for February

There is a dog on the road looking up at the city every day
With eyes of a poem’s tireless wonder - I too try, every day

On Rani Jhansi road, the houses have been half demolished for years
Here, construction and livelihoods carry on every day

At the chowk as I pass birds pecking at busy grain
They plunge their hearts skyward, in uprising every day

The air we used to breath free turned fire, a February ago
When again will wind in Ramjas blow khulla every day?

Wave upon wave of injustice brings new battles to the fray
Harder are the oldest battles, to be fought again every day

So many sorrows wash to my doorstep, some dear and some faraway
Hardest are those that cannot be fought, only lived with every day.

Ananya, how will your city of memories survive the earthquake?
Force not a forgetting, or it will haunt its streets every day.

With thanks to Mukul sir for inspiring the fourth couplet

Photograph: Aryamaan Bose