I stand in our kitchen
by the window facing west
Whenever I feel stricken
or just to view the sunset
I gaze at the plot next to our building
square and sizable
To buy and build on it my own dwelling
wish I was able
It used to house a movie artists' studio
decorated and lively for some years
When he died of heart attack on his patio
vacated his family too in tears
It was up for sale
for millions was the rumor in town
The story became stale
when a dozer brought its roof down
I stand in our kitchen
by the window facing west
Whenever I feel stricken
or just to view the sunset
The barren plot now in symmetry
looked bigger and beautiful
Coconuts trees on its periphery
stretched taller and bountiful
One fine morning, a team with fillers
descended from nowhere
With no sign or warning, ream of pillars
erected they did everywhere
Red bricks and concrete piled on quickly
dwarfing my building by a floor
The new block will complete surely and shortly
Blocking my sighting for sure
Stand, i will, in our kitchen
by the window facing west in future
Stand, it will, in memory
that sunset viewing as a picture.
©Balaji Palanidurai