Poetry at Sangam

Poetry at Sangam showcases poetry in English and translations as well as essays on poetics and news of new releases.

My Mother Drives her Alto at 20KMPH by Mihir Vatsa

So if you make faces in the mirror, she’d promptly
reiterate a safe driving quote: we are not racing against
anyone, are we dear? Of course we aren’t. So what
if it takes an hour to make a trip to the city market?
For all she cares, her feet are finally firm on the pedals,
her wrist focussed on the gears. She tells me, someday
she’d make a film on the woman driver, in slow motion,
& I tell her I could handle the money and other profits,
because despite the slowness, we both believe
in magic. After the vendors chanting the prices
of tomatoes, we cross a theatre in silence.
From our sides, uncles swoop past in their SUVs—
sneering, and smiling at my mother, who, determined
to move the Alto another ten yards, goes softly on
broken, stranger roads. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Mihir Vatsa lives and writes in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. He is the author of poetry collections Painting That Red Circle White (Authors Press 2014) and Wingman (Aainanagar & Vayavya 2017).

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