by Kousik Adhikari

The Story

                                    I can tell you of moth eaten flowers

                                    Story of scents and my naked nostrils,

                                    Weed-ridden pebbles shining

                                    In girlish water,

                                    An unknown islander

                                    In some deserts,

                                    Together

                                    When they caught me

                                    My polygamous desire

                                    Resting, coughing like an old bitch

                                    Kicked by cats, peddlers

                                    And you, life seen under

                                    Film of coconut water,

                                    Juicy, vague and hard,

                                    It needs no doctor

                                    And certainly not you.

In Your Town

                                    I was in your town

                                    Recklessly wandering

                                    Under the scheming shadows of palaces,

                                    Towers, houses of moons.

                                    Grasses, have you seen my footprints?

                                    May I be seen from balconies, moon?

                                    The windows, dozing doors-

                                    I have touched all the petals

                                    Of gardens in rain,

                                    Every corner of titanic roads,

                                    Every glass of silent buses,

                                    All un-answering telephone booths-

                                    Whimpering at me-

                                    Some alien crossed their lands,

                                    May I be not heard!

                                    In these countless webs

                                    Of satanic sounds in your town?

                                    Dear silent bird,

                                    Am I unseen in your nest?