Really what keeps us apartat the end of years is unsharedchildhood. You cannot, for instance,meet my father. He is some yearsdead. Neither can I meet yours:he has lately lost his temperand mellowed. In the transverse midnight gossipof cousins’ reunions amongbrandy… Read More »Love Poem for a Wife – A. K. Ramanujan
THE hollow winds of night no moreIn wild, unequal cadence pour,On musing fancy’s wakeful ear,The groan of agony severeFrom yon dark vessel, which containsThe wretch new bound in hopeless chains!Whose soul with keener anguish bleeds,As AFRIC’S less’ning shore recedes —No… Read More »‘On the Bill which was passed in England for Regulating the Slave Trade; A short time before its Abolition’ poem by Helen Maria Williams
Knotting the cord, the midwife said,It’s a boy, it’s a boy, it’s a boy.Piercing an earlobe, the goldsmith said,Two bucks, just two bucks. Syringe in hand, the nurse said,It’s not gonna hurt, not a bit.Measuring my dick, Baban said,Mine’s bigger,… Read More »Biograph (poem) by Arun Kolatkar
You leave the little temple townWith its sixty three priests inside their sixty three housesHuddled at the foot of the hillWith its three hundred pillars, five hundred steps and eighteen arches.You pass the sixty fourth house of the temple dancerWho… Read More »Between Jejuri and the Railway Station by Arun Kolatkar
They are chanting prayers,But I watch a lonely hawkSoaringAmidst the swirling blue.Wings darkenThe whitenessOf the rushing clouds.It moves in hesitant circlesEmitting an unearthly sound,Hawk-eyes seemingly rivetedOn the mound below,Fenced inBy newly-cut bamboo.The mourners departFrom this obscure bitOf disturbed earth.But grandmother… Read More »Soul Bird by Temsula Ao
When I can’t comprehendwhy they’re burning booksor slashing paintings,when they can’t bear to lookat god’s own nakedness,when they ban the filmand gut the seats to stop the playand I ask whythey just smile and say,‘She must befrom another country.’ When… Read More »SHE MUST BE FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY by Imtiaz Dharker
Fire-lithalf silhouette and half myththe wolf circles my pasttreading the leaves into a bedtill he sleeps, black snouton extended paws.Black snout on sulphur bodyhe nudged his wayinto my consciousness.Prowler, wind-sniffer, throat-catcher,his cries drew a ringaround my night;a child’s night is… Read More »WOLF by Keki Daruwalla
I saw the wild hawk-king this morningriding an ascending windas he drilled the sky.The land beneath him was filmedwith salt:Grass-seed, insect, bird—nothing could thrive here. But he was lostin the momentum of his own gyre,a frustrated parricideon the kill.The fuse… Read More »Hawk by Keki Nasserwanji Daruwalla
a woman may collect cats read thrillersher insomnia may seep through the great walls of historya lizard may paralyze hera sewing machine may bend hermoonlight may intercept the banglecircling her wrista woman my name her catsthe circulating librarymay lend her… Read More »Woman by Arun Kolatkar
Read the poem About the Poet George Herbert (1593-1633) was an English poet and priest. He is best known for his religious poetry, which explores themes of faith, love, and devotion to God. Herbert’s poetry is characterized by its intricate… Read More »Man by George Herbert summary and analysis
