Flesh
and Ink
at dusk
I
scrambled uphill
to
the serrated horizon
of
Argyle Street from
the
ferry terminal to
land
at an evening table
w/
a glass of light-bodied
chianti,
subtle traces of
cherries
& violets swirling
dining alone
w/
the charge of writing a
new poem
a
verse stirred by hundreds
of thousands
of
Indian women who on
the
ninth day of Attulukal
Pongala
carefully take to the
tight streets
of
Thiruvananthapuram in
preparation
for spiritual
offering
a
customary rice pudding
rice
cooked with banana &
coconut
riced
cooked in jaggery w/
generous
amounts of ghee
garnished
with taut raisins
&
raw cashew nuts
a bounty
Thanksgiving
for a rich
harvest
the
moonlit roads fill
w/
divine sisters gathering
bricks,
rinsing rice, grating
coconuts
– assembled at
side-by-side
make-shift stoves
fueled
by small fires
started w/
dried
palm leaves
I only get so far w/ my
writing
before my server asks
if
I am ready to order
he hovers over me in a
perky
straw hat w/ a broad black
ribbon
above the rim, he’s long
faced
w/ a furrowed brow
& pays
no
mind to the artistic task
at
hand
I order
Wagya steak tartare
w/ a soft cooked egg
squid
ink bread & pickled
watermelon
rind
a sip of wine & I am
back
on the page compiling
words
to align a modest gruel
devoted
to the fem Hindu Idol
Bhadrakali
– alienator of evil
&
bringer of prosperity to all
who
choose to follow
while
writing
I am overcome
w/
emotion & feel as though
her
benevolent protection has
circled
my poise
my flesh
& my ink
I
feel myself churn
in feminine wilderness
feminine
willingness
sketching
these devotees whose
earthen
pots boil over
devotees who forget the
searing
heat, the glare of the
burning sun
ululations
& prayers
intoned
stridently
in one fruitful
voice
folded hands
bowed hands
the
imagery compels me to
abandon
my expensive dish
to
be arranged among them
around
the circumference
of
the shrine
alas
this
chianti
this
poem of my flesh & ink
will have to suffice
***
I’ve been pecking at this poem for a few
days now. I’ll likely peck more after posting. I’ve had fun writing it so I may
have to add and/or subtract in the near future. A work in progress? Yis!
Happy Friday!
In propinquity,
Nic
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