Poetry at Sangam
Poetry at Sangam showcases poetry in English and translations as well as essays on poetics and news of new releases.
The sea returning
to its stale carnival.
Jingle and shimmer
the small houses
we call palanquins
rigged chancily
on the backs
of camels.
And like them in the blur
the horses
by the breakwater
shopsoiled, pinched
bells round their throats
condemned to stand
and snort and stare
at the waves
coming in, frothy
neck and neck:
a furious excellence
they register
yet as it dissolves –
aqueous jaws, knees
sustaining a consistent
fabulous fall –
also sniff at
If draped in loincloths
fishermen unskew
their nets or, voices
flung high by the tide
children grub here
they are oblivious to them
Moist-eyed, they are
waiting for evening to end
and the trek back
at their owners’ behest –
the liquid touch of false-firm, coddling hands