A Tenant At The Writer's Block Poem by Prem Nizar Hameed

I was on the portico for a poetry thread
When my neighbour came with a nylon rope
To tie a clothesline to get their half wet
Dresses dried in full swing in the sunlight
As a precedence of her washing policy
To limit the use of drier and save money

While returning, she also joined me
To look at the sky for a while
Where the black clouds started forming
And she requested me to make a warning call
As and when the rain would begin to pour
I agreed, imbibing with the movements
Of the clouds in full enjoyment

The clouds kept on making the art of beauty
The same way they do at Kanyakumari sunset;
The threads of the rains too gradually became thicker
And the thread of my poem entwined with the nylon rope
After a long time, I chanced to witness such a downpour
So, I was fully involved in every sequence of it

A few minutes later, I felt some hot sighs on my neck
Turned back only to see the two volcanic eyes of my house owner
Then only I remembered about the neighbour's request, and told her:
"Sorry, I forgot to call her when the rain started,
Even then, she can enjoy it now onwards"

Pointing at the fully drenched dresses on the clothesline
The house owner opened her usual lecture:
"She told you to look at the arrival of the rains
Not the rainbow or the rainclouds inspiring you,
Now our drier needs extra power consumption
To maintain a good neighbourhood"

I became speechless for a moment
At her economical concerns during the pandemic,
But regaining a circus man's tricky style
Of showing a new item from the fallen place
I asked her a simple question:
"As it rains in such a rhythmic tune and mood,
How can a poetic mind deviate his attention
From poetry to the service of laundry? "

She nodded with a hidden smile
That was reflected on her pleasant face
And I am here to remove my Writer's Block:
"Sometimes, waiting for the moods and words doesn't work
So, start writing, then moods and words will follow your pen
And finally, you may have a thoughtless poetry like this"
And the readers may say in soliloquy:
"The rocket that was launched for the stars in the space
Returned soon for the starfish in the sea with disgrace"