A Midsummer forest
After the meeting
I ran into the forest
but Tony texted from The Agency
the Big Man wants me to give him a call.
Strange how sleepy you feel
away from the city
& there’s all sorts
going on under the pines
what’s the local repertory theatre doing
shooting digital video?
Thoughts twist
like bindweed strangling roses—
does my twin ever dream
of my fiancé’s sister?
I’ve read his letters
but have I read them correctly?
The wood bees courier yellow parcels
to the night-scented stock
& the purple lupins
hold half-thimbles of morning rain
should I wish to bathe my eyes.
The Goodbyes
Now the questions have begun
you know that the goodbyes
are going to be difficult.
What do you tell the kids
about where you will be going
when where you‘ll be going
isn't a place at all but is simply
out of their lives, out of the picture?
There's no question of reunion
& they wouldn't believe any bullshit
about coming back as a dog or
cruising azure highways together.
So you drive to the coast
ask them to close their eyes & listen
to the late summer waves on the wet sand
the calls of children across the water.
You tell them not to worry
the incoming tide will have the last word
the incoming tide always does.
Courtship & Marriage
1
Your father wants you
back by midnight
but first
a little Hindi
down the ghetto blaster's mike
before we get out of bed
let me give you a backrub
I'll walk you home . . .
now again in Hindi
now in English.
2
After three weeks
in Yogesh Uncle's house in Delhi
we found one morning
chai, masala omelet,
The Hindustan Times,
a filigree necklace & chain
cast in the finest gold
by the best Sikh jewelers
in Tilak Nagar
placed on a silver leaf tray.
3
To appease Auntie
we placed all our money
on an outside horse
picked by an astrologer
in Lucknow
who'd been at the Chivas.
4
Married we opted
for proportional representation
over first past the post
as a way of arranging
the lounge furniture
now nothing stays
long enough in one spot
to imprint the carpet
& we don't buy new
but here's the good news
the horse came in.
