Between Foreword And Afterword Poem by Prathibha Nandakumar

I don't write foreword to books by women
he said.

Wearing my heart on my sleeve I asked
then may be an after word?

He laughed

Between foreword and after word
the text is not defined by upper or lower caste
nor by prose or poetry but by
whether you are a cursed fairy born a Brahmin
or he a god in the garb of a Dalit

Nothing was predetermined
not even a forewarning of the tempest to come
Foreword or after word follows
the actual text which needs to be created first

He said
there are sub-texts and twists and
metaphors to swim along
whether I am there in it or not but
surely you are not in my dreams

I said
a line in the text says thus
perfect quote for both fore and after word
man is more scared of a woman's love
than her hate

He made a brilliant analysis of that
and I hate myself for loving him so


Translated from Kannada by the poet