Facing the NIA

-Dyal Singh College Road, 9 P.M.

Emerging from the metro,
I met a swollen moon,

I sipped a little smoke,
tripped on the NIA.

There was Hany Babu 
singing out a lecture—

it was so soft and clear;
it sounded like a poem.

I sat down on the footpath,
I shivered, yes, I cried:

how can we celebrate
with friends like this inside?