A New Year's Eve

One pleasant autumn has come and gone,

The robin has sung its very last song.

Winter is here on its midway,

Frozen lakes , snow on the highway.

 

December 31st; Eve of the New Year,

Festive mood; euphoria in the air,

Maddening crowd and twinkling lights,

The city will see one big, crazy night.

 

Houseful pubs and flowing wine,

The party has begun when the clock struck nine.

Noisy nightclubs, legs shaking in the discotheques,

Streets get merrier as the night turns opaque.

 

Snow falls thick, the cars’ tortoise-crawl,

Cascade of honks in the traffic snarl,

Some to their homes, some to have dinner in the candlelight,

Everyone is up for New Year’s night.

 

Out on the street there is a boy called Tom,

Frostbitten hands; a short, skinny form,

He wears a sweater made of scanty fur,

He is busy wiping the snow off the bonnet of a car.

 

Some pay him two pence, some pay him three,

Tom laughs out loud, he is mad with glee,

From one car to the other, little Tom roams,

Ten more cars and then food for home!

 

Pop open the champagnes; Let us bathe in the beer,

The clock has struck twelve;  it‘s Happy New Year!

Strangers hug and the couples snog,

In the dark pavements, the mist thickens into fog.

 

The heavens above glimmer in fireworks,

In a shack of a slum, a little Tom lurks.

His father is dead; his poor mother weeps,

Thousand little Toms lay awake, but the cold city sleeps.

Author's Note

This poem was based upon a true experience I had once had. It was almost 8 years ago. The day was 31st December and it was New Year’s Eve. My brother had a 3:00 a.m. British Airways flight to catch for London and we were travelling to see him off at the airport. It was the first time when I was out at the streets on the New Year’s Eve and what a night it was! Drunken boys shouting from their cars, cars streaming in and out of the one or two five star hotels that we passed, people queuing up outside the smallest of pubs and restaurants. I had never seen such sights anytime before. It happened outside ITC Sonar Bangla on EM Bypass. Our car was stuck in a traffic jam and as I happened to look outside, I saw a boy not more than 8 years old (read it: 8 years old) was cleaning the bonnet of a car in the traffic jam with soap water. The man at the driver’s seat was giving him instructions as to how it should be properly done and the woman sitting beside him; presumably his wife was busy applying lip-gloss to her lips. It has been 8 years since then and still it has been vividly etched out in my memory. This is the first time I am sharing it with anybody. Today we don’t think twice before throwing money down the drain in so many useless ways and pretending that we are at par of the ‘hippest’ and the ‘coolest’ people of the planet. But the fact remains that the country I come from has stark opposites residing in parallel.( 2 out of 10 richest people in the world are Indians and India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, but still a large section of the population remains poor and impoverished.) I don't know how I wrote it, but it is very close to my heart. Hope you people liked it..

Reviews

[Augustus]

As a fellow Indian, the subject matter of the poem appeals to me immediately. This poem is very moving. It sort of reminds me of a story called "The Little Match Girl"... In terms of poetic devices, I loved the phrase "night turns opaque" ...that is a very unique description of the night... Two lines in this poem really made my heart bleed.

"Ten more cars and then food for home!"
Indeed! Tom's existence is hand to mouth and so skillfully portrayed here!

"Thousand little Toms lay awake, but the cold city sleeps."
Beautiful generalization of Tom's case here and clearly stating that the city is cold in more ways than one.

A poem infused with melancholic beauty!

[Coyote Poetry]

Your problem is everywhere. Here in the USA. 3% control 95 % of the wealth. I like the story you told. People will get rich and leave the poor in distance memory. Thank you for a outstanding poem.
Coyote

[Robbie~xoxo~]

This touches to the core. When surrounded by festivities, the hardship of others seem to be forgotten. Thank you for bringing light to this issue!

[Fairytale]

Easy to read and good flow. This poem is both exiting and poetic. I did not understand the last paragraph, but it did sound sad. New Year's Eve is an exciting time and this kind of magical feel came across in your poem.

[Ursula Kay Vos]

This is a very sombering and humbling portait of a very real issue. You have laid this out so beautifully and eloquently. The real issue still the focus. And a punch to the reader at that to close. It is a work that is beyond review. Thank you for this.

[Hayley]

Ahh, such a picture you paint for us here. I felt like I was there on that day, feeling the biting cold and realizing what is happening on the streets, the merriment and the sadness.
This is a sad, sad, but true story that has touched my heart. You ended the poem perfectly with a reality check that this is happening every year.
Beautiful and eye-opening write, my friend

[An owl on the moon]

What a brilliant imagery you create here... taking the story of that day and weaving that world for us all to take in.. celebrations and sorrows. You've given it such a powerful rhythm and rhyme.

[Becky C Strukamp]

Tears welled as I read this, how tragic, that this exists, many out there surviving on a little more than nothing, ones to young to have to fend and feed and provide, and to think that any of us could whine or complain about trivial issues, makes me re think a lot. thanks for sharing this.

[Ender]

I feel naive to the unknown world around me. my autism doesn't give me the ability to fully understand what it is like in other place. (thank you for the description, or I would have been lost.)
- the lack of me knowing give an inspiration to write something.

I do hope that our world (not just India) can fully understand that the new years is a hope. (I have a dream that the hope permeates)
- this hope isn't defined, but transcends in a formless figure for all to make. A good thing isn't physical, but is special to be omni.

[MmeCorpse]

Beautiful. I felt like crying as I read this because it's so true... Thanks for sharing with us your writing, as well as your memory.

[Rapper VenQ]

ya, me too...once i hav came out of a Shopping mall after a movie amazing how the world is developing..soon, a old man in rags was collecting waste plastic papers infront of the mall...Both the extremes of india i saw at once....
nice work....keep going....