Uncommon Banyan II: The Tender’s Call
An acceptance speech in verse upon appointment as inaugural Commonwealth Poet Laureate Delivered at Commonwealth Foundation, Marlborough House, June 12,…
I bring her to meet you
when I’m sure no one else is coming.
Still, I scan the scrawls in the guestbook.
It seems your hypervigilance has found a new home in me.
You have never been more trustworthy.
You won’t remember how she moulded
red rice, spinach and yoghurt into child-sized balls,
how she nudged your mouth open with her fingertips,
how she fed you the way she feeds your grandchild.
Priya kunju, I like her. You’re happy, you say.
You won’t remember.
This sickness eclipses
the other we’ve lived with our whole lives.
Illustrator © Sonaksha
