Poem by Jaykumar Buddhdev
art and
talents
with twenty
and nine candles
here i am
burying them
sometimes
burning too
this art not
learnt
but ‘tis a
taste acquired
and a habit
born on
empty dinner
tables with
unworn rings -
unclaimed lips
beds unshared
and peerless nights
now no more
them i see
opened or
closed eyes
yet flashes of
fancy
emerge rise
and sink
staying
momentarily but
the seeds of
this art
sown slow and
sudden
at ten and
eight
just before
adding ‘nother
to the tally
of years
this bilious
activity grew
gradually
‘twas nurtured
making them
gangrenous too
seeming
slightly simple to you
maybe ‘tis too
sans dancing
and chanting
‘round their
remains with
a wooden stake
through
for even cold
and buried
or burnt and
bloody
they became someone
new
with these
talents
and hands
sanguinary
glistening
eyes
i am ready
with a cleaver
and such arts
should you
begin
to seem
enticing too
This poem has been published in the international journal The Criterion (Vol 8, Issue IV)