Gumboots

Splash
Into the puddle
Little gumboots
Pink , bubblegum coloured
In a split second
Coated with asphalt and ruby red
Smeared across the fender
A strip of her pretty lace flutters in the wind
A moment of loudness
Followed by silence and screeches, burning brake pads
Reddened themselves as the pads grind the discs to a halt
Her mouth smells of booze
An all nighter of fun
Now as her soberiety kicks in
She picks up the bubblegum boots from the puddle
Reclining against the reddened tyres
Letting out a wail
Without a voice
While her shirt merges with the redness of the tyres
The same that runs deep
in her own veins too

Can we not cross this river? Asks the kid
Hold on tight,
in the moonlight, the other shore is not visible
Hop on my back son
Hold me as we swim
They swim into the river
As the splashes distort the gentle moon
They vanish midway
Morning appears
The river is as calm
Evening falls
The son asks again
Can we not cross the river father?
Hop on my back, hold tighter this time
They swim again
They vanish again
Morning appears
Then the evening falls
They say the father and son keep on trying
As they did those many years ago
Across this very river
Then a raging one, flooded in all its wrath
Since then the river has calmed
As if to let them pass
Yet they never can
For they never did
So every evening they try
Tonight again one can hear
Those words echo
Can we NOT cross this river father?
The wish was to not.
For the fear was too real
Both souls unknown of each others demise
Still try to negotiate