a first poem...continued

 I have finished the poem I began to share in my first post. It's a long one, so get ready! 

...

The city is one of memories and remembrance. 

I think of the local corner shop, 

Where as kids we would eat chocobars, 

Where we would stuff our baskets to the brim in a gluttonous craze,

As if we were in some sugar-induced daze. 

I think of my grandfather whenever I return to these shops, 

and I search for him over the low aisle tops. 

The flowers outside 15A/2 remind me of the smell that day,

The day that nana passed away. 

Their fragrance transports me to an otherwordly place, 

Where death is not a common case.

Yet all I can do is watch them bloom,

Whilst trying to avoid a profound sense of gloom. 

The garden in the house reminds me of those times, 

Where we would often sit together. 

We would hear twenty year old cars whoosh by, 

Donkeys traversing the streets, 

And we would hear the occasional melodic honking of a delicately painted truck. 

He is not there anymore, 

Yet the sounds in the city by the sea make it feel like he is. 

The sounds of my city are memories etched in my core,

And with them, 

I can soar. 

The city is also one of culture and the arts. 

I think of the buses painted by those illiterate, 

And I think of the poetry plastered on the back walls of the Suzuki minivans. 

'Maa ka dua, Jannat ka hawa'

they say. 

In the city by the sea, poetry was not the thing that separated those at the bottom from those at the top, 

And this is the realisation that makes one stop. 

Makes them think about this complex city. 

The city by the sea had a magical effect;

the arts were accessible to all. 

For many not from this great city, 

It is a fact that is incomprehensible. 

Yet I can see the city as on of fear. 

The city by the sea is known as the city of light, 

Yet that is a luxury for those who have the means; 

For those in the slums, nights aren't quite so bright. 

Outside the perimeters of the green affluent areas, 

Light glares at passers by, 

disorienting those unfamiliar, 

the foreigners in the city by the sea. 

Sometimes there is a lack of light;

where mobsters and gangsters run free in the streets,

and tarnish the reputation of this esteemed city by the sea. 

More people now than ever before have wanted to flee, 

Yet for many there is no escape from the city by the sea. 

Fear of the darkness in the city of light is widespread, 

And the nights are met with an overarching sense of dread.

The city is also one of change. 

It is unique yet similar

to every other city. 

I remember it to be cut off, 

more quiet and isolated in my youth. 

Now touched by the hand of globalisation, 

I see a big KFC Zinger burger being advertised, 

A giant coca cola bottle to go along with it. 

If the city by the sea has been touched by that cruel hand, 

my street had been grabbed. 

Colonel Sanders smiles down condescendingly from a four story building, 

Jeering at those unable to buy his finger lickin' chicken. 

I seen an IHOP, I see a costa, I see a Hardees. 

The quiet street I once knew, 

Became something foreign;

Corporate. 

Unemotional.

Distant. 

People will now neglect the dhabas [low cost restaurant]

The roadside stalls selling chickee [peanut brittle] and masala fries. 

The city by the sea in all its culinary grandeur,

Has been robbed of all its splendour. 

The city is one of contrast and inequality;

I see the well manicured estates 

Of the golf and sailing clubs,

That cater to the narrow elite; 

Yet two streets behind,

I see poverty so great,

With which no other city can compete. 

I see those who have a spare hundred to pay for camel rides by the sea, 

Yet I can see those who scramble for a twenty

just beyond my reach. 

I think of those who will shell out thousands for couture clothing, 

Whilst I can hear the pleas of those just down the street,

bargaining over the price of meat. 

The city by the sea is nothing to some, 

Yet everything to me.

I am comforted by the security of the sea:

the breeze that comes and goes, 

the swooshing of the greenish waves on the silty sand, 

a respite in this otherwise hostile land. 

I am thankful for the city by this sea, 

Because it is this city,

that has created a home for me. 

Until next time.