Play.
The boy knew he did not look well, carrying the sword
thrusting it, side slashes, in and out of the mangoes and papaya.
Two pieces of wood tied at right angles to one another.
Maybe it was not a sword at all, but he practiced it
outside the grocery shop by the quiet village bakery.
There he was, cutting into the whole world
expending his breakfast for want of a cause.
My three matches and a beedie later
he reflects upon the weapon.
Maybe it is just wood, two sticks tied together,
maybe tonight he can carry it across midnight
and into her dream.
Play.
The girl knew she did not look well, carrying the sword
thrusting it, side slashes, in and out of the mangoes and papaya.
Two pieces of wood tied at right angles to one another.
Maybe it was not a sword at all, but she practiced it
outside the grocery shop by the quiet village bakery.
There she was, cutting into the whole world
expending her breakfast for want of a cause.
My three matches and a beedie later
she reflects upon the weapon.
Maybe it is just wood, two sticks tied together,
maybe tonight she can carry it across midnight
and into his dream.
Peter Handley was born in an English village towards the end of the 1960s. He is a poet, actor, writer, director mostly living in Mumbai and working in the Indian cinema industry. He has an interest in the shifting of human consciousness through the sharing of stories told in many forms.
The boy knew he did not look well, carrying the sword
thrusting it, side slashes, in and out of the mangoes and papaya.
Two pieces of wood tied at right angles to one another.
Maybe it was not a sword at all, but he practiced it
outside the grocery shop by the quiet village bakery.
There he was, cutting into the whole world
expending his breakfast for want of a cause.
My three matches and a beedie later
he reflects upon the weapon.
Maybe it is just wood, two sticks tied together,
maybe tonight he can carry it across midnight
and into her dream.
Play.
The girl knew she did not look well, carrying the sword
thrusting it, side slashes, in and out of the mangoes and papaya.
Two pieces of wood tied at right angles to one another.
Maybe it was not a sword at all, but she practiced it
outside the grocery shop by the quiet village bakery.
There she was, cutting into the whole world
expending her breakfast for want of a cause.
My three matches and a beedie later
she reflects upon the weapon.
Maybe it is just wood, two sticks tied together,
maybe tonight she can carry it across midnight
and into his dream.
Peter Handley was born in an English village towards the end of the 1960s. He is a poet, actor, writer, director mostly living in Mumbai and working in the Indian cinema industry. He has an interest in the shifting of human consciousness through the sharing of stories told in many forms.
