Waiting for The Lottery Numbers​

Issue 12

The teacher with eyes closed, listening. 
His calculations, usually very precise, 
Reveal to him an impending disappointment. 
Must calculate again, he says to himself. 
But what to do?
When months of delayed salary
Start piling up his worries. 
The heart has to hope 
And a little faulty mathematics is the only way to cope.
 
The village alcoholic with eyes fixed on the ticket numbers. 
Prayers seldom recited, are whispered to a god tired of seeing him sin. 
Anytime someone shouts with joy, he grumbles and mumbles a profanity. 
Money won today would be used for good. 
That, he certainly would. So, divinity must favour him with a win. 
To sooth the mind, 
A promised lie with good intentions can turn into a truth. 
 
A young couple at some distance, hidden in the shadows. 
Their laughter invokes envy in another. 
A win here means four wheels, a sense of adventure and more importantly, dates. 
One cannot spend life without fun, lots of it. 
These numbers hold the key to a new life, to their being husband and wife. 
What is romance? 
If stripped of its illusions, would the hard lessons disappear too? 
 
These and the others wait.

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Andreas Treki Dohtdong was born and raised in Shillong, Meghalaya, India. He is a member of the Khasi tribe. Apart from reading poetry he is also into photography and aspires to be a filmmaker. Some of his favourite poets are Ovid, Catullus, Rilke and Cavafy.

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