Two Poems by Arathy Ashok

Boyhood

A boy falls down

And holds his hand,

In pain;

They give him a lesson

On how to fall (how not to fall) :

How to hold the body light,

How to walk the steps

(No noise in his tread),

How the body can be controlled

A feline machine;

A boy falls down

And holds his hand,

A hole where his hand was;

And they give him a lesson

To teach him,

How to fall (how not to fall).

 Lock Down

It was a special summer.

Beside the sleepy river

Ten young men sat

Watching,

Time dripping a little

From their feet,

Itching to move.

Each spoke a word

Now and then

Watching,

A tiny ripple,

A silent wind treading

Whisper.

In the opposite bank

The blue sky of summer

Turning dark

Crowding rain clouds,

Shadows,

Thoughts.

Five other men, there,

With a net

Fishing,

Day lights of calm

Flitting across their face.

Ten men, young

Climbing mango trees

Or a jackfruit

To kill time;

Squeezing out a morning

To noon,

Lunch ,

Sleep,

Then night.

And suddenly

In the lazy sun

Tyre screech,

And boots crunch,

“You don’t know it is lock down?”

And ten young men, scattering,

Like chicken scrambling (in the heat)

Welcome diversions.

Back home they laugh,

The women look up with sweaty faces

From the fire,

Noon heats of eternal lockdowns,

Life.

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