Thursday, May 1, 2014

Kerala rising

by Reena Prasad

Autocorrect will not allow me to write Kerala
without changing it to One Billion Rising Kerala
Nine days of sunshine, hymn chants, drum beats
 mashed tapioca and ripe jackfruit scented afternoons
 babblers in the backyard, blue streaks on trees
 scampering life among bushes, bare earth between toes,
 time standing still then rushing by on a bike
 toddy dancing on streets, temple fests with Kozhikodan
 Kulkki sarbaths, an evening in a super fast ksrtc bus
 armed with safety pins and roasted peanuts
 watching fat brown cows, yellow chicks and sleepy kittens
 herons in paddy fields, cricket in the alleys,
 early blooms of Kani konna yellow, brown dry leaves
 the taste of cool well water, green mangoes and fresh chips
 the bluest of skies, caws heralding visitors, long forgotten fruits
 warmth of family, familiarity of the air, heightened desires
 a billion of them still rising
 and the plane lands in the desert once more

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