Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Diwali

Diwali

You're up early
while I'm still sleeping
You have a puja to perform
of course.

So many names
for you to remember of
so many relatives crowding in.
I'm sure

you've forgotten
my name that lies afloat
like oil on a diya lit late
last night.

You're dressed
in a bright bright sari
that you're happily uncomfortable
wearing.

And unseemly
I am more concerned with
the taking off than the putting
on of it.

Past evening
I will walk to you through
the Sulphur of exploded
crackers

and stop
your mouth for a kiss with
your body soft between
my arms

like a broken-off piece of mithai.

untitled poem

The air tonight is clear
as a pool of water
So many things have gathered
shape tonight - hard and unforgiving.

They no longer murmur to me
in disjointed geometries.
Tonight they lie orderly
like letters on a page.

Tonight, even the cement road
seems smooth without the stubble
of small stones and potholes
an unblemished grey sheet.

I might lay my smooth cheek
against it, the short swim
of air between here and there
is invitingly cool to my skin.

It is easy to imagine -
my body soft in sleep under
a streetlamp whose light
congeals under my fingertips.

Time flutters for a moment
like a page from a book
and then lies still and cool
undisturbed by my breath.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Your Name

a work in progress...

Your Name

It comes to me with a soft
shock of pleasure, finding
your name in print or
in speech.

Surely your name does not
embody you. You cannot
be spelled out in a
few letters.


Yet, there are times,
interrupted in thought,
your name tumbles out of
my mouth

like a flower held
between my fingers
that drops softly to
the floor


Later on, of course
there will be other names -
sweeter, more intimate and
unshared.

But until then, this name,
with its worn unfamiliar
petals, this name of yours,
will do