The Economics of Going Home

The sum total is zero at the end, but
those three days count;
the three days on return,
the three days in which I live.
For in my city I’m powerful again, in my city
things forgotten are possible again, in my city
there’s youth, in my city
I live again, in my city
pain meets joy that meets pain.

I call my city my home and not just one house in it.
I keep looking out of the window an hour, or two,
before the train is due to reach my home.
When landmarks unknown run to meet my eyes
I feel injured, my pride insulted. How could I plain
forget them? And then, when I reach the station,
I feel elated, transported to a place more heaven
than earth, more in mind than is there.

 

Rajnish Mishra is a poet, writer, translator and blogger born and brought up in Varanasi, India and now in exile from his city. His work originates at the point of intersection between his psyche and his city. He edits PPP Ezine.

Luis Lázaro Tijerina was born in Salina, Kansas. Mr. Tijerina has a Master of Art degree in history, concentration being military history and diplomacy. He is a published author of military theory, short stories, essays and poetry. Mr. Tijerina resides in Vermont.