APRIL

Water lillies

a poem by Elly Niland, from her forthcoming collection East of Centre

In the heady heat of May’s midday sun
You display a thousand glossy roundabouts,
Soft green pools, in botanical garden ponds
Your shower heads, erect brown pods
Above, swelling silent, full of fattening
Nuts. Below you unfold a pick curved
Geometry of bloom flowering open to reveal
A carved, embroidered waterwheel.
You let this picture minister to you
When cows slowly wandered in to cool.
A scene from The Holy lakes of the Acts of Rama
Lay in front of you, a scene so real, unreal.
Every detail reminiscent of the holy
Book. Your first serendipitous moment that day.


MARCH

i am accused of tending to the past

a poem by Lucille Clifton

i am accused of tending to the past
as if i made it,
as if i sculpted it
with my own hands. i did not.
this past was waiting for me
when it came,
a monstrous unnamed baby,
and i with my mother's itch
took it to breast
and named it
History.
she is more human now,
learning languages everyday,
remembering faces, names and dates.
when she is strong enough to travel
on her own, beware, she will.


FEBRUARY

Here I am

a poem by Lubna Siddique Kiran

Here I am as told
Told by the words that chafed
(my skin and within)
Here I am as obliged
Obliged by…….
The old wives’ tales,
Tales of the life hereafter,
Here I am as scared,
By the threat of tomorrow,
Tomorrow which is no better than today
Or the day after,
Here I am as warned,
Warned of the doors that shut after the departure
Of people who never look back,
Here I am as apprehended
Of the load of blames
By the tongues – just learning to speak today,
Here I am as forced
By those who claim to understand and care
So here I am
Ravish and relish
As you please,
Smile’s not on the menu