Saturday, May 13, 2023

Poetic Musings: Mumbai Commute Haiku by Sonam Chhoki

Mumbai commute
each train window
colored with people

Wild Plum, Spring 2015

Sonam Chhoki 

Commentary: Written through a sympathetic lens (by using "coloured" not "crowded"), Sonam's train haiku keenly captures an overcrowded train scene in the sixth most populous metropolitan area, with a population of over 23 million, in the world,

The verb (in the past tense), "colored," is layered with multiple meanings, which could refer to the colors of work clothes, various ethnicities, multi-cultures, or diverse religions of Indian commuters.

And the following train haiku could be read as a sequel to Sonam's:

train tunnel --
the sudden intimacy
of mirrored faces

Best of Issue Haiku, Presence, 22, 2004

Beverley George

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