1
Tigress

Lemon light gleams on her gold-black stripes
through sparse bamboo blades at dawn.
Sprawled on her belly, legs folded
on one side, she blends in dry thistle –
her face composed, eyes ablaze, fixed on bait.

Copper sun slants on her coat at dusk, tones down
black in highlights of yellow. The trap holds
her bruised limbs. Face contorts, dismayed –
eyes dry, stilled in daze. At the bottom of the pit
against dullness of dark she appears pure gold.

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2
In Your Garden

I was never a thorny bush,
nor an exotic orchid
for you to study
and characterize.
I let myself be groomed
into a creeper - clung to your walls.

I spanned air, straddled rains,
sprawled in searing sun -
sapped from depths
the elements of a brackish earth.

For poetry’s sake I harbored questions;
in poetry’s faith harvested pain.

I wonder if you could at all read
O learned one
the candid words
that bloomed
from each of its wilted flowers.
------------------------
3
In Season

One month from its yield the old mango sheds
aged leaves, wears varying shades
of rust –green and a crown tinged
cream with flowering.

The afternoon sun sieves through the canopy,
slopes off the branches, distills on earth
slivers of light that quiver with winds.

Shade under the tree remains dense
with fallen leaves and bird droppings.

Each rub of breeze disperses from flowers
a fine feathery dust. Air so pregnant
with a sweet-sour scent attracts greedy parrots.

They come and go, hop and fly,
peck on pedicles – drop bulbous buds.
The tree is used to their routing;
it has fruited for years.

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4

Tiger Count 2005 Siriska, Rajasthan

No roar in the jungle,
no growl in hills.
Quiet birds, still winds.

Deer don’t panic; elephants don’t alarm.

In mud or wet grass,
no pug- marks.
No trail of blood,
not a distant thud.

Behind the bushes no blazing eyes.

Trophies in some homes --
hides hanging from walls,
frozen eyes of glass,

teeth worn like a talisman,
bones stored in jars.

©Uma Asopa 2006
 

 

Uma Asopa lives in India with her husband and an adorable dog. She is a pediatrician by profession and writes poetry to explore herself. Her poems have appeared on sites like Lily Literary review, Red River Review, Subtle Tea, VLQ,WAH, and Underground Window.
She can be reached at umaasopa@rediffmail.com

 

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