Stargazing

"On the eastern side it will be!"
pointed a middle-aged person.

"Papa, will they burst like crackers?"
"No Dodo, comet showers are mere streaks
flying across the sky."

"Sir, what's the expected time, 2 am?"
"One-thirty! Only an hour left!"

Kolkata maidan looked a strange graveyard
with the street lamps. Groups of people nestled
in their woolens, tea sellers did brisk business.

An old beggar, bent as her wooden
stick, moved in a snail's pace. One gentleman
seated on the grass, was scribbling in the light
of a lantern.

I sat beside him.

Night progressed amid words and laughter.
Stars disappeared into the brume.
So did the people.

Morning awoke with hostile crows
and stray dogs, nibbling litter.
My companion had finished his write.

He recited lines from his poem
"Stargazers".