Midnight on the Motorcycle

August 24, 2013 at 12:54am

Midnight on the Highway, foggy lens, lonely road
The wind is cold, my face is dry and black the color code.
I stopped near a raging stream, lit a cigarette to calm my pensive mood
The tree toad echoed its song, the steaming Enfield engine and its machine mode.

An Old Man in a tattered rag, sleeping by the road side...
Looked longingly at my fire and joined me on that highway divide
As the smoke blew in the air, and its perfume my honey guide
The phantom smiled its toothless snide and melted into the night.

And there I stood on that lonely road casting my shadow by the red tail light
And the red glowing stars, in the purple sky, casting mirrors in the stream site.
And the faint smell of whisky still drifting in the air
Made me long for my sweetheart and how in her eyes I could forever stare.

Midnight on the highway, the tune of a song on my lips
I whistle on this lonely road, my wheels crushing a few tobacco thrips.
Crossing each dead man's turn I get further away from my home
Thinking of friends some dead, some gone and most who left me alone.

The hilt of my knife sits cold by my waist, the cold steel my constant friend
The blade I have sharpened this twilight, fit to make its cold descend.
It shall not feed I think tonight, at least, it is what I shall for the moment pretend
I have had more than my share of misfortunes and dealt many a bitter end.

The roaring engine tears through the darkness, every minute growing deep
My frozen fingers clasps the clutch desperate not to fall dead asleep,
And off across the hills, someone dreams in peaceful uninterrupted delight
While I ride this unholy hour haunting the dark highways every night.

~ Saurav Bhattacharjee.