Short Poems

Pythoness body—arching
Over the night like an ecstasy—
I feel your coils tightening…
And the world’s lessening breath.

Bride's robes, would suit thee well,
Ye, my beloved of short years
Thy braids of hair, thy ear rings
peep from beneath the gossamer cover

Mother love is hushed
silence in the distant son
broken vase upon the floor

O Hari, 'tis morn, awake, there's water in the jar for you to wash your face no need to hurry there's plenty of time.

I'll bring you whatever you like for your breakfast- dried fruits, butter, honey and bread.

Says Suradasa, Yashoda's heart overflows with joy when her gaze alights on her darling boy.

Oh, my heart it is just achin'
For a little bit of bacon
A hunk of bread, a little mug of brew
I'm tired of seein' scenery
Just lead me to a beanery
Where there's something more than only air to chew

To be brave is to behave
bravely when your heart is faint.
So you can be really brave
only when you really ain't.

Born on the breast of the prairie, she smiles to her sire--the sun,
Robed in the wealth of her wheat-lands, gift of her mothering soil,
Affluence knocks at her gateways, opulence waits to be won.
Nuggets of gold are her acres, yielding and yellow with spoil,
Dream of the hungry millions, dawn of the food-filled age,
Over the starving tale of want her fingers have turned the page;
Nations will nurse at her storehouse, and God gives her grain for wage.

WHY do I look for fire to brand these foals?
What do I need, when all within is fire?
And lo, she comes, carrying the lighted coals
And branding tool—she who is my desire!
What need have I for what is in her hands,
If I lay hand upon a hide it brands,
And grass, and trees, and shadows, all are fire!

tamu tirugu bhumi khamapiditamaina
porigi desamunaku jarugavalayu
kolanatendipova kokkeralunduna
viswadhabhirama vinura vema

white herons
on dark clouds
on the brahmaputra


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(Note: Brahmaputra (literally, 'son of Brahma') is a very prominent Himalayan river in Assam, India. It originates in Tibet, where it is known as Tsangpo.)