November 2022
Neera Kashyap
Neerak7@gmail.com
Author's Note: This poem is an experimental attempt based on William Stafford's prompt process: list 10 images seen in the past 24 hours; take a line from a randomly chosen poem; use it as a first line or make a response to it; weave in the line and all ten images to craft your poem. For me the experience was a flow, without trying to achieve depth or significance. Recently, some of my poems have been included in themed anthologies, and I have attempted newer forms of haikai poetry. This has meant workshopping online with an international group to learn and improve my work.

My Backyard

(Beginning with a line from "Backyard" by Mary Oliver)

I had no time to haul out all the dead stuff
so these clung to me randomly moss-like.
While slicing a banana for my cereal
I knew I needed an electric cutter
that could chop mince blend - not randomly.
A maid stood above, whispering anxieties down the stairway;
my stomach cramped from last night’s undigested dinner.
The low branches of the Alistonia needed pruning
to let in more winter sun. I worried why we still needed 
air-conditioning in October, the month of walkathons when
the old Opposition party walked to unite the country, 
to elect after decades a leader for a power barely breathing.
Unlike the Alistonia, I could prune a haiku verse, substitute a word,
think of more images - noonday sun reflecting on the sea, 
cutting a swathe of silver through blue undulations.
My own reality?
Sitting on a park bench early morning, 
Pranayama opening up my breathing, 
watching yellow-beaked mynahs 
strut on clumps of mowed grass,
united as we breathe 
the fragrance of wet soil,
now visible.
©2022 Neera Kashyap
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