Red Light Mumbai
Toothless, brittle, clad in rags
She clutches her
Belly of bones.
Horn! Ok! Please!
One rupee please, just one rupee
She knocks from glass to glass
Hungry, she moans, her voice
Silent, just like
The flaccid, glazed-eyed newborn
Thrust before my averted eyes.
Written in 2008 at the Indiabulls traffic junction, Lower Parel, Mumbai