Game on the train

In front of me 3 kids play cards,
Rather they pretend,
with each draw they restart,
with angst they count,
in a bout of words,
the game comes to an end.

'Tu pishi' pushes the boy, 'pishi' girl giggles,
she will be missed, she knows,
She purrs and snuggles close.

the other 'Didi' mediates,
she has an upper hand.
She counts again and cheats,
when will the other two understand?

'Superstar' proclaims 'pishi' heroin,
others roll in laughter,
their cards carry bikes on the rear
and kids ride hard.

'BMW', 'Suzuki', 'Kawasaki', game wores on,
looking for 'BMW' after 'BMW', or 'suzuki' on 'suzuki',
'OH', heroin has won the hand.
Others find their hands empty nearly.

'Keep your feet to yourself!'
and some more screams,
the eyes, the gestures,
a 'Suzuki' call followed by dirty-word streams.

'AICH!' the heroin has cleared
the deck again
'Wow', 'How?' She refuses to share.
Others tickle her insane.

One phone call cuts short the game,
the shout march, and the blame.
It's suddenly Hush Hush
on the East-bound train.


(On my way to Calcutta from Delhi)