THE CALL OF NATURE

by Anuradha Bhattacharyya

Of all urgent calls,
The penultimate call
Is the call of nature
Before which Dadu
And the rest of humanity
Has to bend
Every morning.

This bending before
The god of man,
His clayey discharge
In a stoop over the hot seat
Taxes Dadu’s stiffened back.

He has been told to keep
The door unlatched
For help to arrive as soon as
Need arises.

He often disobeys this norm.

He often shrieks with his
Shaking shanks,
Rubs his benumbed knees
While doing his most common job
In the morning
When the mind is still at rest and the body
Refuses to act fast.
This penultimate call
Denies him relief
As he clambers forth
To use the tap.

Several times
He has messed up
And would not take the maid
For support
Ashamed of his undone masculinity.

He curses this call,
Curses further
As he thinks
The ultimate call of nature
Would be eternal sleep.