Modern Literature

  Translated from the Malayalam by Ra Sh (Ravi Shanker)   Falaz Falaz, honey, how old are you? Five. What are the names of your Abba and Ummi? Shahid Rizwan, Shahid Jamiha. Honey, do you know Mahmoud Darwish? Who is he? Honey, shall I give you a book by Mourid Barghouti? What for? Honey, has Edward Said given candies to you? No. Honey, who dressed you up like this? Got it from the camp. Honey, where are you off to waving this...

  Translated from the Malayalam by Ra Sh (Ravi Shanker)   Rule Octagonal land; Olive trees grow thick on the borders! Triangular lake with daffodils hedging it! An octagonal island in the middle! In it a triangular lawn! An octagonal pond in it! When she dives through the Triangular tunnel and keeps swimming avoiding the common carp and murrel fish, she enters a forest with no...

    Richard Nixon’s life was full of Pats. First came his wife Pat. Next, Pat Hitt. She was the national co‑chair of his 1968 presidential race and then Assistant Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Third was Pat Hillings, Nixon’s successor in the House of Representatives and later a campaign adviser. Then Pat Buchanan, the first person Nixon’s presidential campaign...

 A letter to end things Dear phantom ExThese days you come like a spectre. You are a double-barrelled creature.I've loved you for several years now. The limerence is withering. The drip has stopped giving. I sift the soot from the smog. I breathe cleaner air every day. I even peed a little of you today.I tell myself: I'm nearly there,...

  * The stars align like a map resulting in a fortuitous collision between aspiration and opportunity on a diverse cultural highway including dinosaurs. *   “He's a smooth operator… His eyes are like angels… Smooth operator… “Put that Karaoke mic down, Charlene.” “It’s your birthday and I want to serenade you, Le’Roy.” “Climb off me and give this ‘ol man an opportunity to rest his weary bones,...

    A room of my own Once, I had a room With glass walls. Sitting there I painted my life Dreaming About oceans. For those who saw me I was a fish in an aquarium Swimming in the blue waves Like goldfish I kissed the walls I heard the whales sing too. Now, my room is blind Without any windows The drab walls Uncolored Smell like the skies Rumble like the oceans. Sitting here I draw butterflies They fly...

    Urban Sight The creaky, old homeless woman, ravaged by unmet demands pulls her cart of broken dreams as she trudges unkind streets that do not welcome outcasts, concrete without compassion for relics of once normal lives.  Immigrant I carry the delivery bag and no one looks at me. They ignore the delivery boy and I can’t tell them I’m a man, not a boy. I hate my boss who talks down to me, because I’m...

    Recipes I inscribe recipes In an anthology of poems In most pages Chilli Turmeric Coriander Curry leaves Scribbled in a language Only known to me Different poets Diverse languages Combined with taste In a single collection Words from many Origins marinated In desi masala When I feel like cooking I refer the anthology Put something together To feed an Infinite hunger An aroma will spread In the kitchen And my cates died of hunger Walk on it to...

  Translated from the Malayalam by Ra Sh (Ravi Shanker)   Menagerie Township of a variety of prisons. The distance between the iron bars their length. Through them we can see the jungles of the fables. A troop of monkeys screeching abuses at Darwin at the top of their voices. A pond where crocs shed copious tears yearning to eat their hearts. In the cage to its north an aged lion taking a siesta after...

      Early morning.  Crisp autumn of the schoolyard.  Beginning of the school day.  Donna’s father crouches.  Squatting he points.  To guide Donna.  Long high wall.  Blocking October sun.  In front of the wall Donna’s father.  Gray and shadows and dark brick and Donna looking straight.  The door.  Brown entrance door.  Moments for others.  Immeasurable length of time inside Donna’s mind. ...