Mating Music Poem by Nilmani Phookan

In the woods
deep in the woods
a crane calls

Open out both your arms
let a swarm of stars sink
into the aroma of your hair

In the pond teeming with lotuses
the wind soughs
deep inside your body
opens a red bud

The rain pours down
the opening palm frond
the blood of your breasts
rushes to your lips

Now you are awake
the face of darkness glows
the clouds rumble over the hill.

[From: Chandrabhaga No. 2; Publisher: Cuttack, 2000]