Poetry at Sangam
Poetry at Sangam showcases poetry in English and translations as well as essays on poetics and news of new releases.
Leaves as flags, they flutter
to the sobbing of earth
Red velvet mites discover the pastures
coming out of earth glands,
disobeying the guard
who was a transparent creature
no colour
no body
no heart
no blood and flesh
The spring of dim light
keeps destroying the unseen refuge
in the green glowing blades
The black clouds
record the sobbings of the earth
later it turns into a flaming whip’s yawn
Clouds open the way to the day
voices of peacocks rift the sky
clouds fall onto the earth,
dress the hills as the dust of coal
Tribes offer their prayer
to the sick and weak earth,
saying few words to the sky
We do celebrate
seasonal festivals from now
thankyou for accepting our souls
by sending these mites into our land
Children hide mites in matchboxes
to extract their eggs from them
to define their fate by eggs
Pregnant women
devour mites to feed their unborn babies
to be healthy and beautiful
Men and old folks
gently pick them into hands
and tell them
bring the rains filled with good omens,
drops should be sharp as spears
and then they let mites go
leaving them off into the grass
telling ‘don’t come out
O red queen
the world is full of hunters*
go, go hide in the earth
And the evening glows
like a yellow lemon
as red queen disappear
The Heart of tribes swells with hopes,
they get into their nests
imagining that everyone is a
red velvet mite from then on
*In most of the areas in Telangana state, outsiders collect Red velvet mites and sell them. They are used in making medicines.