Born and brought up in Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Usha Kishore is now resident on the Isle of Man (UK) where she lectures in English at the Isle of Man College. Her poetry and critical articles have been published in the UK, Ireland and India. A few of her poems are also online.


Grey Pigeon

Grey pigeon
with
purple neck,
pecking the
ground,
do you know
the meaning
of life?

Flying,
alighting,
floating.

I know, I know, I know….

Dreaming
in darkling,
cooing in
rainbow.

I know, I know, I know…

Visions of night;
Essence of flight;
Love of eternal light.

I know, I know, I know….

The refrain, “ I know, I know, I know” – is my adaptation of the English translation of Omar Khayyam’s lines -“O danad, O danad, O danad!” (Rubaiyat) – which literally means – “He knows, He knows, He knows!”

The Flight of the Seagull
(To Jonathan Livingston Seagull…)

Seagull
Storm Wind
Lyric in Motion.

Seagull
Wingspan of two skies
One in, One out.

Seagull
Splashing the air
Earth falls down.

Seagull
Sunlight
A Prayer in flight.

Seagull
Wings catching the moon
Lightning.

Seagull
Chasing the sun
Eclipse.

Seagull
Dipped in amber
Twilight.

Seagull
Shimmering in rhyme
Night-time.

Seagull
Gliding, tilting, melting
Dreamtime.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Novel by Richard Bach


Servocracy

Tyranny under Rajamma, who ruled
the roost; us children drowned in a
flood of commands:
We could not question why,
Ours was to do or die…

The elders nodded assent to her whims
and turned a deaf ear to our pleas:
Weekly oil-baths in foul-smelling
balm; herbal pastes that clung to our
bodies like ten thousand leeches;
force-fed cauldrons of tasteless soups
- all to beautify young women;
Rajam had us all truly under her spell:
Lamp-lighting at the Nagar Kavu,
Monday fasts, Saturday pujas with
lime-lamps - all performed under her
watchful eyes: to bring us good husbands…


Her loud voice boomed across the
courtyard, woe to mischief- mongers;
Her heavy steps and prying eyes,
death to evil-doers…
Her weekly cleaning sessions –
another ploy to spy on us children,
while her own kept out of her way…
Sweets, savouries, mouth- watering
puddings - Rajam, the five-star chef
cooked them all; the uncasting of
evil-eyes, the undoing of greedy eyes -
Rajam, the sorceress did them all…

Her tales of the haunt, that woke her
at the break of dawn, chilled our veins;
Her stories of the guardian serpent,
that ruthlessly chastised sinners,
froze our blood –
On full moon nights, we whistled
to keep the Brahmarakshas away;
We chanted mantras to ward off
the yakshis, who danced under the
champaka tree; we looked away from
the north-facing window, to avoid the
glances of the ghoul, who hung upside
down from the drum-stick tree…

Rajam knew them all - oracle, priest,
flower-merchant, sweetmeat vendor,
doctor, lawyer and film star…
She arranged marriages, settled
quarrels, found maids for house-holds
and screamed and shouted at little
boys, who raided our guava tree
and cursed all their fore-fathers to
the fires of hell…

Rajamma was priceless - sorceress,
spy, tyrant, despot, dictator, saviour,
mother-figure, friend, philosopher
and guide - all rolled into one…


Servocracy - Term used by Rabindrananth Tagore to describe "servant-rule".
Nagar Kavu - Malayalam for Serpent Shrine
Yakshi - Malayalam for female vampire


Abhirami

She wrenches her jewelled earring
and throws it to the dark night –

The new moon sky grows lighter
and a new moon is born –

The earth shakes as a new order
is born in mystic bhakti-

One woman, goddess of the world,
one mad-man, one earring –

And all the world is light…


The poem is based on the Tamil classic – Abhiramiandhadhi



© Usha Kishore 2006