Jodhpur. It’s 5.00 a.m. 
By Margie Clark

It’s 5.00a.m. and the city sleeps.
Before the sun flickers her eyelids
To begin her gruelling day,
The call to prayer sounds.
The devout respond;
All is well.

The city stirs.
Tuk tuks chuckle and splutter,
Clattering along uneven streets,
And like an unruly orchestra,
Bells and horns sound continuously,
Each one more important
Than the other.
Like a tidal wave, the sounds of the city grow.

A feral dog, exhausted from a night’s sortie sleeps soundly
In the middle of the road
Bicycles weave around it,
And papers, lifted by the breeze
Scuttle over its tired body
Still it sleeps.
Cows unburdened from their milk supply
Gather in groups
Foraging in the gutter
Chewing idly, discussing
The business of the day.

Slowly the market wakes;
Schoolchildren, immaculate
Pigtails bobbing, satchels swinging
Water bottles clutched in hands,
Walking or sardined on bikes,
Three or four at a time.

Holy Men in white,
Ladies dressed like rainbows,
Businessmen, briefcases bristling;
Marker traders, wooden carts,
Cauliflowers piled high
Aubergines
Garlic, beans.
Clementines, that taste like heaven
Bananas that taste like
Your first banana ever.

The city hums and throbs
A mighty fusion of smell and colour,
Whistles, voices
Carry through the day
Heat, dust.
And every hour the clock tower tells us
The day is getting older.

Dusk descends
Like a chiffon mantle,
Lights appear,
The market evaporates,
The tidal wave retreats.
People gather, greet, gesticulate
They never seem to go home
Yet they eat.
Food and family are central to their lives.
Poor they may be
But rich in spirit and generosity.

The streets, so pink earlier
Have turned a bruised purple
With a sudden rainfall
Puddles gather, unsure where to go,
Unaccustomed to being there.
It is midnight
I am dancing in the road
Hindi hits blaring
From a car radio.
Five young men smile broadly-
They think it comic!

It’s 5.00a.m. and the city sleeps.
Before the sun flickers her eyelids
To begin her gruelling day,
The call to prayer sounds.
The devout respond;
All is well.