A Poem for Gandhi Jayanti Celebration --Yuyutsu Sharma

In the Absence of the Towers,

Gandhi

Yuyutsu Sharma

In absence

of Twin Towers, it was his statue

in Union Square

that became the solid shaft

of my light in the whirling city

of rattling trains, my memory key

to the numbered streets

of this mandala of steel, siren and seeds…

Larger than life figure

standing in the grassy triangle,

his feeble staff

from South Africa shining from

the glow of his compassion,

his eyes looking onto

the Green Market

stalls from Upstate,

Apple cider, wine, pretzels,

Organic cupcakes, Dead sea salt

and across the Square

Barnes and Noble store, Occupy Wall Street kids,

skating Latinos

and that black boy from Hudson River Valley

his chessboard

of Power Games spread on a small table

with an empty little chair

in the freezing cold

waiting for someone to come

and invest his precious coin or a dream

and spend some quality time

under the murky skies

likely to turn cobalt blue,

a flame of a feather

of a singing blue jay…

From A Blizzard in my Bones: New York Poems

https://www.amazon.com/dp/8182500729

The Gandhi Statue at Union Square, New York