The last announcement in the metro before it was closed down
Harsh Anand
Owing to the pandemic,
we will be suspending our services
indefinitely.
We urge all of you
to look outside the windows
for the rest of your journey
before you forget what your
city looks like.
Our last train
will be extended to midnight,
for those who have forgotten
their hearts elsewhere.
Couples who have to
part ways can
take platform two
to say their goodbyes.
The staff is requested
to collect all the apologies
scattered in coach five
and pile them neatly on the seats
so they can also feel
the burden of our weight,
if only for a night.
To acknowledge the abundance
of words we will have
to pull out of our throats,
in the coming weeks,
we will turn off the automated
messages but
write them on the floors instead,
besides the footprints
and replace the batteries
in all the clocks.
Our lost and found
has a single slipper, a pack of smokes
and a crumbled, almost illegible letter.
We will be holding on to them
like they are our own
Harsh Anand is a 24-year-old aspiring poet from New Delhi, India. He believes writing poetry is the one thing he knows best and is constantly looking for ways to improve both himself and his work.