Monday 3 June 2013

A man who sleeps under the tree

Sullied, barechested, barefeet
In the shade across the street
wuthering heatwaves, nah! they wont make him sick
as he sleeps peacefully on the pillow of a fly ash brick

People whine of heat as they pass him by
temperature reads 47 ,afternoons sultry and dry
people they pass him by, people unconcerned
he takes his nap, a nap that he earned.

Sun breathing fire, he breathes tranquility
peace and content,earned from drudgery
with hardships all around, what dreams can he see?
when he sleeps peacefully under a tree.

A complex of companies across the road
with airconditioned ambience of stress and workload
combined with montonous banality.
where an insomniac boss
often berates his employees.

7 comments:

  1. sounds like he def. chose the better place...more peaceful def.

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  2. Nice contrast... definitely a better choice to sleep in the shade under such conditions. :-)

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  3. Sounds as though this bare-chested and bare-footed man
    finds pleasures in life wherever he can......

    I recently watched a rerun of an old TV show, "The Andy Griffith" show, where a hobo walked into town and befriended Andy's son, Opey. The hobo explained to Opey that most people don't have the courage to do what he does. Mostly I think that's true as I watch us all file into our little air-conditioned stress boxes day after day only for the fear of becoming just that - completely unbridgeably free.

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  4. smiles...i like the acknowledgement that the peace he finds comes from toil as well...but one he chooses over the other...nice verse....smiles.

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  5. I am reminded of someone who just refuses to go back into that drudgery again--better a nap---loved this

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  6. The contrast of a homeless man in a businessman's world comes to mind...

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  7. ...a modern day approach to David Swan's story by Nathaniel Hawthorne... loved it... smiles...

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