Empty canteens on December days

 

Between laminated table-tops

polished off-white with diluted soap water

and the shrivelled remains of an orange pith,

Which do you think looks whiter?

Between peeling the porous excess

and biting into the smoothened rind

wintry citrus sting, rinsing sour morning breath,

Which process would you loathe to savour?

Between five-rupee tea-tumblers

and fifteen- rupee paper cups of coffee,

both untainted by sugar,

Which one accompanies your choco stick?

Between me and them, whom would you pick?

Between romanticists and realists

Whom to hang out with?

Between jolly crowds and one-on-one conversations

Where is your home?

Between after-lunch pol-sci ordeals

and early morning literary chills

My hands are cold and my feet are cold and my nose is cold

Which should we choose?

And if Beckett agrees to rename the play

relinquish revered Godot's name

Between a cluster of blossoms 

and Vaqt,

a lofty word you liked to hear me say,

Which do you think describes us best?

The above poem is for the NaPoWriMo2021. Day 5 Prompt: Your Favourite Urdu word. Although "respond to a poem by a renowned desi poet" prompt should also count. But oh well.