Poetry: Nithya Mariam John

Nithya Mariam John

Cursive Memories

 

Sunny leaves,

twisted in the hot air…

 

Poetry is pain,

 

I sighed.

 

A bubble of laughter shoot over my scribbling hand.

My four-year-old child metamorphosed into squeals and peals of laughter!

At my quizzical eyebrows,

she darted the sweetest of her smiles, and said,

“The ‘f’looks like you bending over to kiss me”.

 

An avalanche of memories-

 Strokes.

 Slanting lines. Sleeping lines.

            Slate. Chalk. Scribbling. Shapes. Pencils. Eraser. Cursive Writing.

Sharpener. Ruler. Pens. Red ink. “Illegible”. 250 pages of four-line-books.

“Practice hand!” The art of hand. The master’s moustache twitching slightly. Cane on the

t

            a

                        b

                                    l

                                                e……………………………….

 

……………………………………………………………………….melted all over me,

like a long evening dissolve in the sunset,

and slowly fade into a moony night.

 

My pre-school daughter fell into my arms laughing,

still laughing…

***

 

Nithya Mariam John is a teacher, poet, editor, translator and critic who has published three collections of poems and an anthology. Her works have appeared in Kendra Sahitya Akademi's Journal of Indian Literature, Malayalam Literature Survey, Muse India, Indian Ruminations and Samyuktha Poetry. She was happy to podcast eight episodes titled ‘Torn Pages of a Diary' during the pandemic year 2020. She pens her random thoughts on her blog, Mizhi (nmjs.in). email: nithyamariam@gmail.com

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