Kolkata (Mercury)

I asked my grandfather to come up with a word to describe Kolkata and he said, "Paradox." I then asked a Bengali friend and he came up with "Mercury." That, inspires this poem:

Kolkata (Mercury)

A Sunday evening

in The City of Joy,

a man peddles

his many wares.

Boxes and bottles,

jars and pouches,

potions and tablets,

leaves and branches.

A wrinkled hand

with a painted nail

holds out a vial,

"Guess what I have."

I look closely:

A shiny liquid,

a dense liquid

"It's mercury!"

He smiles at me,

clutches the vial.

I follow his gaze,

a faraway gaze.

Buses, trams,

tempers, crowds,

dumps, fumes,

kites and crows.

Sweat and blood,

heat and vapour,

a million dreams,

crushed ambitions.

A city of paradoxes,

judged and measured,

of value and poison

like a vial of mercury.

- Eisha