How Contradictory?

By Nimisha Yadav

It's an empty road,

With broken street lights,

But there's glowing neon traffic signs,

With honking cars and screeching bikes.

There's a vacant park,

With only winds and creaking swings,

But I also hear kids playing,

Shrieking, stomping, rolling blades.

The silences are screaming.

The quiet is deafening.

The void is chaotic.

The nothingness is consuming.

I can't explain it.

I can't understand it.

It's everything and nothing.

It's a drought and a tsunami.

It's like an abandoned auditorium,

But also the cheering audience.

It's like a concert and I'm the lone mike,

It's empty but there are these howling whines.

It's like a tape recorder,

That got stuck in a deserted basement.

How do people even talk to me?

I don't even get myself.

This puny little brain of mine,

Causes so much panic.

It's wide enough to swallow the universe,

Hell, all I do is feel claustrophobic.

By Nimisha Yadav