An evocative poem by Elsy, in Different Truths.

They moved
into an abode new
by the railway line
when she was nine.
 
Sleep became alien
as chugged the trains
along the tracks
loud and heavy,
heavy and loud.
 
Even the water in the jar
in dread did shiver!
 
Years sped by…
she ceased tracking
the sound of the tracks,
and could fall sound asleep!
 
Not that the trains came to a halt
nor that her hearing waned
but that she tuned herself
to live in concord with discord!
 
As sight gets used to night
as the mind gets used to grief
sense gets tuned to noise
and peace gets tuned to war.

Picture design Anumita Roy

#Poem #RailwayLineHouse #Sleepless #Tain #Grief #DifferentTruths

Elsy Satheesan

Elsy Satheesan is a retired Professor of English. She had been teaching in colleges under the Govt. of Kerala, India. Currently, she resides in Virginia, USA. ‘Random Musings’ is her first volume of poems. ‘Summer Snow’, is the forthcoming one. Her poems have been published in national and international anthologies. Short stories in Malayalam have been published in weekly and fortnightly, in Kerala. Humanity is her religion, and poetry, her passion.