if you look at it from this side

the sun sits atop the ashoka tree like a crown.

a naughty breeze blows my erect hair

into my own eyes, and i think how symbolic—

i let something grow on my head

and it ends up blinding me.

a pregnant monkey walks by the gutters

and i tell my friend— see, i told you to use protection.

another monkey makes faces at us

from the branch above. when it jumps

onto the stonebench we bravehearts

scatter, and wait for it to finish its excavation

for fresh soft drink cartons

in dry waste wet waste dustbins.

deer scamper past the classrooms

as aloof to the lectures as the students are.

an occasional not-so-occasional whirring

of helicopters and planes from the airforce station nearby

pauses the professors and rouses the confessors.

if you look at it from this side

the ashoka tree is flipping off the faint moon—

saying fuck you to the wide bright sky.

~ ajay

10/3/2022