Leaf margins


There is no connection, but perhaps there is
       that as the poder blows his wind-horn
           peacocks answer with loud honks
    and it is suddenly clear to me that I must thank someone for the vocalisations of the earth
and the deep
pits
           of words.

It’s true that I feel comfortable only in unexplained worlds…

   All that I ever sought
was the excitement of things passing by,
Of discovering the soft undersides of broad leaves,
        knowing that it’s our wanderings that will have the firmest hold on us.

And so, I have revelled in the many returns of the eye
    to the margins of leaves and pages
In the hope that there I would find
slivers of a slender heaven.


(poder: a Goan bread vendor who blows a horn to announce his arrival).

      
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Salil Chaturvedi
salilwheels@gmail.com