Nai Vitra Kasu

The day before
 men came in a truck
 unloaded the furniture.

First came the tables
without paint,  rickety 
chairs followed.

A rugged looking man
 jumps down, shouts 
Vanagada , vangada
.
A first shot in the arm,
the noise hitherto unknown
breaks the serenity.

Disheartened, I turn back,
  a few more years to go,
 I tell myself,  Soon will be 

 entrapped in an unbecoming  environ, 
 I talk to the environmentalists, the 
civic authorities

who promise to bring back 
  peace.  A saying in Tamil
strikes me,

” nai vitra kaasu kulaikuma?”
meaning the sale proceeds 
of a dog will not bark.