Rati Saxena Poems

close all the doors, one
by one,

hear them shut with a click,
...

To cut a jackfruit, one needs
a knife, not poetry
But the knife's edge must be as sharp as the euphemism of a poem
Jackfruit should have two torsos in the middle, so that the
...

The poet is a waterfall
Didn't I tell you so?
a poet is a waterfall
not a lion
...

That bellow used to resonate
in the squares of New York
against each war
against injustice
...

(Translated by Shelly Bhoil)

I do not like writing poetry on death and tragedy
especially when the stench of those accidents still lingers
...

Even that day, the poet
was "lonely in the crowd"
the dim light of his two eyes
trembled with the buzz of words
...

He stood there right in front of me
my enemy
He moved his eyeballs in circles
turned them red then blue
...

empty the bookbags
extinguish the embers placed in letters
tinker around with each word
peel off and throw away the kernels of meanings
...

Not that I was reading my hands for the first time
but this time the lines that run down from the neck till the hands
looked a little too deep, deep enough to keep afloat the boat of
age
...

I've been looking for someone crazy for a long time
the one who can burn his hut to light up the neighbors'
the one who can give rest to the wings by making a nest of air
the one who can pamper the seedlings so they may grow into
...