June 2023
Bio Note: Many of my poems are inspired by Bombay, the city of my birth, which is a riot of color and noise, at all times of night and day. From the beginning of time poets have written about the importance of silence as a prerequisite for writing poetry. If you come from where I do, you know that this is sheer luxury, hence my ‘Poems Born From Noise', as I remember in verse, the sights, sounds and smells of my birthplace.
The Gift of the Crow
If the cawing of a crow does not bring a visitor Let it at least bring the gift of a poem. The crows have cawed for three days, If my belief in local Indian folklore is fact not superstition the cawing of a crow should bring a visitor. Mathematically, several crows should bring several visitors, If three large ravens sitting on the backyard fence Count as crows, by the same token I should have many more visitors and poems! I will be brave and open the door though no doorbell rings. The poem waits on the threshold ‘You don’t need an appointment,’ I say reassuringly I welcome it in French, English and Spanish ‘Mi casa es su casa’ Welcome it in all the Indian languages I know The poem should now feel at home. I offer it the best of Indian hospitality Ginger tea, samosas with tamarind chutney I carry it over the threshold as for a newly-married bride Anxious to see if it’s a love poem or about birds. The gift of a poem would be a miracle visitor Coming from a crow at Christmas That would be a double miracle.
Originally published in ‘The Gift,’ anthology, edited by Steve Carr, 2022
©2023 Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca
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