electrified *

i hear the tolling of the bell
the beating of the falcon’s wings...

i quiver expectant—
the steel claws lifting soaring into the clouds weightless swinging
electrified…

*****

Baffled *

Baffled I am all of a sudden—
Why I am I and not you?
Have you ever wondered, dear,
Why you are you and not me?

I feel your fingers twined around mine,
Your pulse throbbing on mine;
But I can’t say which is which—
The beats diffuse as mist into mist.

You open the window and look outside:
I see through your eyes a solitary crow
High on the swaying sparkle of a tree
Preening its feathers warm in the sun.

Its feathers all damp from last night’s rain,
It shakes its fluff in shuddering bouts—
Oh how it itches, itches, beneath the wings!
How nice the sharp beak combing, scratching!

Baffled I am all of a sudden—
Why I am I and not the crow?
Have you ever wondered, dear,
Why you are you and not the crow?

*****

Under Orion

How many more hours
For this mosquito drowning oblivious
In the sweetness of my blood?

How many more springs and autumns,
From smiles to tears and then to exploding ecstasy,
For me the joy of being?

How many more trillions of millenniums—
Orion—
Dissipating into the vacuum of nothingness!

*****

Sunbird

He soars
And plunges into the canopy
Flashing zig-zag
Through twigs and branches
Alighting light as eternal peace
On this leaf
Picking the ripest
Twittering...

On TV
Over Gaza
The machine zooms zig-zag
Over the streets
Never alighting
Picking this and that
Twittering...
Wreaking futility.

*****

Journey

Women in purdah
Await the train from north:

One, a monument,
Fingers locked, meditating;
The other,
Scanning the page in vogue
Through her black veil.

Southwards,
The rails stretch silver
In the dawning light.

*****

fish in the tank *

my gills flap shut and open
lips pouting
blowing bubbles swirling
to the surface going
plop, plop

i twirl my tail stalling
fins on thin ether
groping
unsure where, what, why,
glass-eyed
trying to remember
who

*****

New Year

Parting the mist on New Year dawn
Waddling into the sun
Muffler-wrapped
A whiskered gentleman
Resolute on his morning walk.

*****