Leaving behind the track of memories
And dry leaves blowing in the dusty road,
I step out
Head out,
Roadwards.
Penniless,
Bagless,
And soul-less.
The sweltering heat -
A sun as white as snow -
My eyes reddened
By the dust on the road;
My face, a mask of grime.
The road stretches forever.
Cutting across
Plains and palms,
Deserts and farms,
Railroads and dams,
Pains and balms,
Bhajans and psalms.
The road cuts through
Right and left,
Right and wrong,
Heaven and Earth.
The road is attempted immortality.
It never ends.
Its median lines
Never wavers.
The road is redemption.
The road was dug up
And leveled out
By eyes searching
Beyond the horizon.
And eyes, with regret,
Wanting not to look behind.
My eyes are burning
With the sweat
And heat
And a million colloidal dust particles
Peppering it
With the predictable unpredictability
Of Brownian motion.
No, they are not tears
Of sadness,
Weariness,
And worries.
No tears, no regrets
Anymore.
The cinematic silence is shuddered into the reality of dust, heat and acrid kerosene smoke as a 12-tonne truck pulls over; its brakes creaking in unison as it descends from Heaven or Hell or wherever on Earth it comes from. Its chrome grille gleams in the midday sun. Its orange face is as bright as fire.
The driver's name is Charon. He is blind. Not that it matters. The windscreen is caked with an inch of dust. All that matters is that, for a few shared cigarettes, he can drive you across to Oblivion.
Everyone makes that mistake.
Pinning spots down on maps
(Like insects to be dissected and have to be pinned down 'cause they may run away from scapels and spatulas and inquisitive human fingers.)
And pinning camp tents
And picnic baskets there
When you reach.
Jolly good holiday.
Without feeling
The dust in your eyes,
Grime on your face
And the taste of exhaust fumes
Of the thousand cars
Which never stopped.
The road is the destination.
The road is where it ends
And where it begins.
Like life itself.
There is nothing outside the road
Or beyond it.
A few threadbare memories
And dry leaves scattered by the dusty wind.
