Time Machine

 I walk through the busiest parts of Purani Dilli, 

Where Chandi Chowk meets the Qila across the street. 

I stand in the crowd, wondering what it was like 

When horses and elephants paraded by it.

I walk through the old Calcutta lanes,

Where once was a canal of British reign. 

A ditch to lay off Marathas was built, 

And then there are places where elephants took over the streets. 

Imagine for once in your mind's eye 

What it was like when Siraj's troops went by.

I zoom past Haldighati in a car, 

Wondering how fast Chetak was 

As he led Pratap to safety; 

Or how narrow the pass had been 

Suitable for war in climates extreme.

My heart pounds on significant days and times, 

For the writer in me believes in another world 

Parallel to mine. 

A world that is alive in the past still 

Where time is repeated in loops therein.

Sometime somewhere in that world 

Perhaps, like a dream, we often call the past 

Someone is fighting a war, someone is shedding tears. 

Someone is dying nameless, and others are immortal.

Stories are being woven, legends are being written 

Every single moment of breath is sealed by fate 

And here I am, 

Using my imagination as a time machine.

© Suranya