Labour chowk
Incessant chatter
Impatient gestures
Anxious glances
And a pall of gloom
What’s in store today?
Jobs for the lucky
Emptiness for others
One more day of despair
Such days are often now
They call it recession
For us, it’s depression
No escape from there
In this labour chowk*
Painful is this wait
Uncertainty is certain
And a pall of gloom
* A place where labourers (mostly construction workers) gather daily to get jobs. Contractors recruit people from these places on a daily basis.
2 comments:
loved the labour chowk refernce, took me back to cinderella man 1921 depression when a mob of people used to gather around and one guy gets picked randomly.well, times arent as bad...but the reference touched heart, made realise that no matter the circumstance, recession is always depressing on a few for the mistakes done by the other few.
Beautiful poem.You hv captured the essence in your last lines
"In this labour chowk*
Painful is this wait
Uncertainty is certain
And a pall of gloom"
Thank you
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