The following is posted as part of the Language/ Place Blog Carnival. Issue #14 is hosted by Stella Pierides and the theme is “Locating the Senses in Language/ Place”.
Putrid, festering, naked,
Your broken hand begs
I cannot drop round pennies.
A plump and orange offering
The petals of this flower
Street litter to step on.
Trees sway in shadows
Children huddle and stare
At ghosts within.
*
Wine spills, I watch
It spreads upon your heart
My signature of red.
Jasmine under my pillow
Dried and brown
Crushed memory smell.
Songs float outside
Scarves, strummed words
I wind around my neck.
*
In the village
Hot earthen ovens
Mother and bread.
In the city
Hot steel ovens
Factory filled sweat.
In the mind
Hot glass ovens
Smelting with dread.
© Abha Iyengar, 13th March 2012
