I have been thinking about “city poems”- and how poetry distills relationships that people share with the city. Sometimes they talk about nostalgia, or about the idea of a home, infusing commonplace elements of modernity with affect. I wrote a poem about Bombay recently that stemmed from a memory buried deep within, and from years ago. Sometimes, it takes distance to write about a city, the same way it takes distance to write about a lover.
A friend shared this ‘city poem’ with me yesterday in response to an instagram call for people to share their favourite city poems, and this Dilip Chitre gem surfaced. I loved it so much, never having read it before that I had to share it today. With what careful detail it captures the paradox that is bombay - and it is something to write with such metaphorical intensity, and familiarity about things that could easily be ignored in some boring catalogue about the city. I can feel how Bombay has slid into his very being. A good city poem always triggers personal memories of moments spent in deep communion with the space, with home.
Maybe, if you feel like it, you could share your favourite city poems. Maybe, they could even be featured here.