I sigh in exasperation

Whenever

Twice

An annoyingly familiar voice

Gratingly booms

Across the loudspeaker

Without a hint of tired repetition

(Such are the ills of mechanization)

And drones on unneeded explanations

With the gentle elegance of a woman

Drenched in the self-importance

That comes exclusively

With a sense of anonymity

And with the state of being

Soaked in a nervous air

That is nauseatingly muffled

By the conspicuous absence

Of a visible audience

– Akanksha Gupta (poem only)