Ashwani has lived and studied in Patna, Delhi, Oklahoma, Texas. Currently, he is Associate Professor at Tata institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai). His non fiction titled “Community Warriors in India” is forthcoming from Anthem Press( London). His poems have been published by Sahitya Academy (Indian Academy of Letters), among others.

Matrimonial Columns

I often meet her in my gestures and accents
But never touch her because I fear she may become a fairy tale
And will become embossed in the plebian rock paintings,
In the restless dawn,
Dews fall from the virgin–hot pants of young sky
and howl for ungrateful suitors,
Trembling in dismay over the good fortunes of adultery
Rains, lights and thunders
Walk hand –in hand till they discover dusky lips of a new insignia of status,
All we know , we follow ancient rituals of love,
All we know we await unexpected whispers,
All we know we applaud blinding glares of innocence,
My eyes and her eyelashes often sleep together
yet they fear making love because of undocumented rumors,
Days and nights come from the same blazing mouth of the creator
Yet they always remind us;
Each of us is a lover,
each of us sweats in endless pregnancies,
and each of us drifts in unforgiving joys of still-born time,
Words, lyrics and prayers
Dance in ecstasy until our sins shed blood of untimely death,
Seasons occasionally run amuck;
Spring, autumn and winter scramble for equal attention
from sparrows and butterflies.
Now I am only three miles away from the sea buried in my garden,
I hear pirates conspiring against olive -green dolphins,
I know nothing of miracle,
I pick out the solitary thorn in my flesh,
hold it in my trembling hand as
a warrior’s sword and
fight a losing battle against matrimonial columns…


I Miss……

It makes me happy when I see no memories, boundaries, no histories
Yet I miss the toy train and little shrine at the hilltop…
It makes me happy when I see the purple berry
Singing the ritual of fire ceremony in the midnight
Yet I miss getting wet in the heat of nightmares…
It makes me happy when I drink lemon tea with sparrows in the neighborhood
Yet I miss the sight of extinct dinosaurs
Walking in stray cottages in my closed arteries…
It makes me happy when I see dictators buried in the high altitude
Yet I miss the company of rogue Queens in my democracy…