CLUED to the trap! One flick of his
STAVE, and he rises from the river’s reedy bank, a
CRANE. Aloft, he sees them swarming in to find the pit
EMPTY. A flap of wings carries him away. But how long can one escape an army?
Category: contributors
Disappointment
CLUED into mom’s hiding spots I could
STAVE my hunger by raiding the M&M stash, and I
CRANE my neck into the upper cabinet and …
EMPTY.
Cowardice
STUFF my hands deeper in my pockets – it’s my
DEBUT running the gauntlet of a Kolkata street. The
FORCE of beggars and banshee boys, each demanding a
RUPEE, is too much; I speed through the stifling heat.
A New Force
STUFFs to be sold, stuffs to be bought,
DEBUT new methods, new products, new energies.
FORCE arising in history, on China’s heels.
RUPEE: will it be the sum of a nation’s desires?
Ready to Listen
GRUNTing pigs, their piggy lives
ODDLY compelling to a hungry,
UNWED, self-exiled profligate. Can’t
AVOID the thought: if there’s a next time, I’ll listen to Dad.
Fear
ODDLY, I spent my social life ignoring women. I’d
AVOID all those who ventured near me. A bear in a cave, I’d
GRUNT and not converse, eyes cast down, fear in me. I’m
UNWED, surprise, surprise, but still I long for one to hear me.
Unsocial
SWORN to silence once the
RADIO is on. No conversation, nothing that will
USURP the concert’s dominance. I’m off to bed
SINCE no one wants to talk.
Father Coughlin
SINCE Eden, we’ve a disposition to
USURP what is not ours;
RADIO merely changed the scale,
SWORN thieves of our attention now beaming into living rooms.
Ides of March
USURP the usurper, conspirators!
RADIO silence until the time comes.
SINCE we have no other ambition,
SWORN are we to crimson deeds.
Pitiless
SATIN dress of resplendent sheen on slippery dance floor. A
CRASH – he’s let her slip from his grasp. Shock? Horror? No,
SMIRKs from some, or sneers – no love lost here from rivals;
SCOFFs and jeers from dumb-minded dolls in cotton frocks.
