SKETCHES
Pomegranate
Winking
from the depths
of patent leather leaves
that still speak
of spring in midsummer,
in a saddle pouch
the lava color of desire,
you hold in your beaded ruby flesh.
Within
each of your hundred hearts
glimmers light
from Earth’s core,
dug out
from times that dip far
beyond mankind’s history. Surely
it was you that tempted.
Balancing
on your spiny branch
the serpent must have
stretched
and beckoned. Even
blown a kiss to Eve. Her ruby lips.
Now lanced
by the raven
your hide makes
my unquiet afternoon bleed
serenely,
like a river before the deluge.
Kingfisher
Suddenly a patch
of brilliant blue
stabbed with a knife-
edge of burnt sienna
explodes
among the leaf-
less branches
of a half
drowned tree.
Suddenly
green water erupts
scattering pearls,
tourmalines
into an ever-expanding
necklace
whose silver pendant
is snatched
up
in the blink
of an eye…
Outside the Gate
There are date palms blowing
outside the gate.
The fronds swept up
like punk hair styles
tossed over to the other side.
There are yellow flowers dropping
outside the gate.
The petals spiralling
like paratroopers, twirling
down as if caught in a maelstrom.
And then there is the dust
outside. Bone white
and billowing.
A gigantic
shroud to cover the day.
Threaded by sunlight
my bottled garden struggles
for breath.
Rumjhum Biswas has been published in countries in all the five continents in both online and print journals and anthologies. One of her poems was long listed in the Bridport Poetry Prize 2006. She has won prizes in poetry contests in India. Her poem “March” was commended in the Writelinks’ Spring Fever Competition, 2008. Her story "Ahalya’s Valhalla” was among Story South’s Million Writers’ notable stories of 2007. Most recently, her poem "Bones" has been nominated by Asian Cha for Pushcart Prize. She was a participating poet in the 2008 Prakriti Foundation Poetry Festival in Chennai. She was a featured poet during the Poetry Slam organized jointly by the US Consul General, Chennai and The Prakriti Foundation in December 2009. She blogs at: http://rumjhumkbiswas.wordpress.com/
Pomegranate
Winking
from the depths
of patent leather leaves
that still speak
of spring in midsummer,
in a saddle pouch
the lava color of desire,
you hold in your beaded ruby flesh.
Within
each of your hundred hearts
glimmers light
from Earth’s core,
dug out
from times that dip far
beyond mankind’s history. Surely
it was you that tempted.
Balancing
on your spiny branch
the serpent must have
stretched
and beckoned. Even
blown a kiss to Eve. Her ruby lips.
Now lanced
by the raven
your hide makes
my unquiet afternoon bleed
serenely,
like a river before the deluge.
Kingfisher
Suddenly a patch
of brilliant blue
stabbed with a knife-
edge of burnt sienna
explodes
among the leaf-
less branches
of a half
drowned tree.
Suddenly
green water erupts
scattering pearls,
tourmalines
into an ever-expanding
necklace
whose silver pendant
is snatched
up
in the blink
of an eye…
Outside the Gate
There are date palms blowing
outside the gate.
The fronds swept up
like punk hair styles
tossed over to the other side.
There are yellow flowers dropping
outside the gate.
The petals spiralling
like paratroopers, twirling
down as if caught in a maelstrom.
And then there is the dust
outside. Bone white
and billowing.
A gigantic
shroud to cover the day.
Threaded by sunlight
my bottled garden struggles
for breath.
Rumjhum Biswas has been published in countries in all the five continents in both online and print journals and anthologies. One of her poems was long listed in the Bridport Poetry Prize 2006. She has won prizes in poetry contests in India. Her poem “March” was commended in the Writelinks’ Spring Fever Competition, 2008. Her story "Ahalya’s Valhalla” was among Story South’s Million Writers’ notable stories of 2007. Most recently, her poem "Bones" has been nominated by Asian Cha for Pushcart Prize. She was a participating poet in the 2008 Prakriti Foundation Poetry Festival in Chennai. She was a featured poet during the Poetry Slam organized jointly by the US Consul General, Chennai and The Prakriti Foundation in December 2009. She blogs at: http://rumjhumkbiswas.wordpress.com/
