Poem: ‘Dawn Dreams’ & ‘All I have is a Ticket’
It was one of those broody, poignant evenings when I boarded a train from Bengaluru to Chennai. The day was a washout, but I wished I could have done something I love — writing or reading.
But as the station appeared before me, I started one of my poetic rants leading to these verses. I took a couple of pictures, which I will share here.
Poem: Dawn Dreams
It started with a gloomy view of the dawn from my hotel room. The day was important, but I wouldn’t say I like two days of being pummeled in a row. You bet.
The trees wearing
Their night dress
Of dark silhouette
Yet to give up their dreams
While I am looking
Forward to the dawn
Some sunshine in my life
They are looking
At the clouds
Dreaming of the autumn rain.
-Ashok Subramanian © 2023
The second instance of the day was about the grey clouds which were floating away from the city, as I reached the railway station, and I lamented about the utter disregard of the citizens while they yearned for rain.
Grey clouds pass by
The thirsty city
In need of water
Yet this city acts so funny
Does the clouds even care
For those who think
Clouds are about the gloom
But it’s the rain waters of wisdom
That make the clouds grey.
The waters of wisdom
Flows from the darkness
Profundity is the product
Of morbid intensity.
-Ashok Subramanian © 2023
About half an hour later, I clicked another picture of the platform and the empty railway track; and what a rant it turned out to be after that.
Poem: All I have is a ticket
After all life is a journey
All I have is a ticket
Sitting amid strangers
Blissfully chilling out
Some trapped in their thoughts
Moving along two rails
That will never ever meet
Even when turning a corner
I don’t own a thing
Neither do those strangers
For all I have is a ticket
I got to get down
When my station comes.
Then more…
What do I think
When I fight for my things
All I have is a ticket
For this journey to nowhere.
I look at the two rails
That won't ever meet
But they got to run together
For the journey ahead
All I have is a ticket
So I sit amid these strangers.
Then further more…
A journey that begins
Strangers boarding together
A wisdom of silence
A little help or a courteous smile
An occasional glance
Sometimes a frown of disapproval
No words spoken
Thoughts and opinions
Shoved inside their heads
Their mouths locked
I watch in amusement
And of course in silence
For just like them
All I have is a ticket.
The final piece, before the train came, was the right end to a cloudy, gloomy day.
The pillars and trees
Flash past but backwards
At a distance I wonder
How a grey cloud
Pregnant with water
Move slowly along.
In a closed room
With silent strangers
The distant cloud
Seems to be my companion.
I wonder and wonder
About the strangers close by
Devoid of any closeness, strangely
Yet the distant cloud
Grows close enough
Or is it the comfort of the distance
Makes up for closeness
For those left behind
In the station I boarded
Aren’t bothered enough
But a strange cloud
With waters of wisdom
Now running with the train
Albeit at a distance
For all I have is a ticket
But my cloud companion
With all its waters of wisdom
Is travelling without a ticket.
“If you love someone then tell them right away; because after missing the train there is no use of yelling that you had a ticket”
― Wrushank Sorte
I was up to something, and I yelled that I had a ticket. But was it about love? Was it about something I wanted to achieve?
All I can say is that I had a dawn dream and later, all I had was a ticket.
~Ashok Subramanian © 2023
