Sitting on mother’s hips
one evening around festival time
at the temple
I consumed a whole caparisoned elephant all alone

During college days
coming home on vacation
I’d sit on the lonely steps
by the village-pond
and gulp it up dry

On the job-seeking days
I’d lie supine on the railway tracks
unseen by anyone
and in a night’s time
swallow a whole train.

Employed in the town
I’d sit in the balcony at midnight
and slowly chew away
the sleepy streets
till daybreak.

Now
on my tongue
where all the flags of flavours down mast
I dissolve and finish off
in a wee bit of sweetness.