Women Poetry: Dr. Ketaki Datta, India

Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy

Ketaki Datta

THE PRESENT-DAY MEDUSA                                                         

The lady was flogged by her husband,

No toadying could she do for a shelter,

She was about to slam the door behind 

And leave the house for a place, better!

She touched her head and found

All her hairs got matted to 

 look like snakes,

She walked down a neon-dazzled road

Feeling herself dejected, desperate,

losing all stakes.

From the other end

 A cab came rushing,

The honk of the cab

Sounded ear-shattering!

She was thrown aside,

She was killed as she was mortal

The cabman looked like Perseus,

Cops came but he was noncommittal.

Cops left with her corpse

None was there to claim it

The dead threw a stern look and

He turned into a stone, utterly petrified!

Athena was about to be humiliated 

But she had the ‘dead’ in her cellphone,

And none could touch a hair on her head

Medusa’s head would save her anon!

***

MISTRESS OF KARATE, KUNG-FU                          

I am a Gorgon, though mortal

I have immense strength, 

Both physical and mental.

Last night my slayer came  

To behead me,

But I am a modern dame,

Harming me is not easy!  

I threw my legs into the air,

Circled them, kicked him hard,

He fell on the floor of my lair—

I am not a dame, but a leopard!

A she-leopard in human form,

Men may be my friends, 

abiding by all norm.   

They call me a Medusa with a stern look

They fear they would turn into stones,

at yonder nook!

They think I harbour snakes on my head,

But I have tufts of curly hair, instead.

They tried to kill me but failed, 

I have mastered karate, kung-fu,

And am in good stead.

***

Dr. Ketaki Datta is an Associate Professor of English with Bidhannagar College, Kolkata. Apart from a slew of academic writings, she has two novels, “A Bird Alone” and “One Year for Mourning” to her credit. She has two collections of poems, “Across the Blue Horizon” [ U.K.], and “Urban Reflections: A Dialogue Between Photography and Poetry”, coauthored with Prof. Wilfried Raussert [Germany]. She has two translated novels. She is a lyricist too. She was conferred upon the title “Professional Woman of the Year” in 2005 by American Biographical Society, North Carolina, USA.

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