Gieve Patel

the old crone

essence of chickensoupas thoughit were chicken soupitself, mistaking the hum inher veinsfor the imagined chicken’s parting giftwhileI know it to beno morethan hotwater’s momentary warming,and how momentary when even nakedflame would howland wigglean injured finger, frostbitten, comingtoo closeto thewaft of departing chill.[From: How Do You Withstand, Body; Publisher: Clearing House, Mumbai, 1976]

Text Book

A woman thrust glowing faggotsWhere properlyHer son’s sparrow should nest.Puerile in-law practice, he says,But good as any otherTo set the story rolling; beginWith a burn in the sparrow’s nestTo extend over all therefrom emergingFan and flourish of the world:Hold the foetus tumbling through,And before it may expressSurprise at a clean new blast of air,Lay subtle…

How soon I’ve acquired it all!

Awaited only this sententious month.Autocratic poise comes natural now:Voice sharp, glance impatient,A busy man’s look of harried preoccupation –Not embarrassed to appear so.My fingers deft to manoeuvre bodies,Pull down clothing, strip the soul.Give sorrow ear upto a point,Then snub it shut.Separate essential from suspect tales.Weed out malingerers, acceptWith patronage a steady streamOf the underfed, pack…

God or

shotthrough each part of you, downto yoursmall fingernail, well intopits and wellsyoudid not know of, beamedright into all of that,and into yourcrude meanness,and your fruitlessness; floodedmight bethe word forit;translucence, the sunblazing through, lifting the most of yououtof sight, save fora persistenceof veins.

The Saurashtra Express waits to start

Good pet, while I clamber inTo take my reserved window seatAnd settle into the half-empty compartment’sCool; the odour of human manureVague and sharp drifts inFrom adjoining platforms.The station’s population of porters,Stall-keepers, toughs and vagabonds relieve themselvesTicketless, into the bowels of these waiting pets;Gujarat Mail, Delhi Janata, Bulsar Express,Quiet linear beasts,Offering unguarded toilets to a waveOf…

It is startling to see how swiftly

From chin to prick,How easily the bonesHe has felt wholeUnder his chestFor a sixty, seventy yearsMay be snapped,With what calmLiver, lung and heartBe examined, the bowelsNoted for defect, the brainFor haemorrhage,And all these insidesThat have for a lifetimeRaged and strained to understandBe dumped back into the body,Now stitched to perfection,Before announcing deathAs due to an…

It is startling to see how swiftly

From chin to prick,How easily the bonesHe has felt wholeUnder his chestFor a sixty, seventy yearsMay be snapped,With what calmLiver, lung and heartBe examined, the bowelsNoted for defect, the brainFor haemorrhage,And all these insidesThat have for a lifetimeRaged and strained to understandBe dumped back into the body,Now stitched to perfection,Before announcing deathAs due to an…

the old crone

essence of chickensoupas thoughit were chicken soupitself, mistaking the hum inher veinsfor the imagined chicken’s parting giftwhileI know it to beno morethan hotwater’s momentary warming,and how momentary when even nakedflame would howland wigglean injured finger, frostbitten, comingtoo closeto thewaft of departing chill.