Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca |
Vaccination Date
Love,
How long has it
been
since we went on a
date?
You said you
couldn’t remember.
But yesterday,
walking hand in
hand
in downtown
Calgary
You smiled when I
said it felt like a date,
Only our
destination The Immunization Clinic
was different, yet
felt just as romantic
as walking along
Worli Seaface in Bombay
All those years
ago,
Destination,
Shobha Bhelpuri Restaurant.
I hope you felt
the same way
somewhere deep
down
In your heart.
You did say I
looked nice
just before we
left
for the
vaccination date!
Later, you changed
‘nice’ to ‘lovely’.
I remember how I
loved ‘lovely’
The way you said
it.
We’re going again
for our second shot
Together, hand in
hand
On another
vaccination date.
Vaccinations can
come with unexpected blessings!
*‘The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven’.
*The quotation is from Milton’s Paradise Lost
Pandemic Closet Cleaning
So many voices
tell you
How to survive the
Pandemic
How to ride the
wave
That’s drowning
all of us
Sans exception.
Inner voices
speaking messages of hope
Cannot be ignored.
’Clean the closet,
organize the closet’
Like the chorus
line, a repetitive refrain,
I feel I must
respond to the call.
Time seems
elastic, stretching endlessly
Like a shore line.
I open the closet,
close it again
The pandemic is
synonymous with procrastination
The desire to
clean and downsize is numbed.
The chorus chants,
‘Do it now, you have so much time’.
But love, do you
remember
The white *Salwar
Kameez with the gold buttons
With the sheer
diaphanous gold colored *chunni
The one that is
forty-two years old?
I cannot bring
myself to give that one away
No matter how good
the intention to clean.
Remember, how we
got off the bus, hand in hand,
as it turned the
corner.
The sign SALE,
caught your eye,
It was an
exhibition of Indian outfits
Picking out the
white and gold one
You said, ‘This
will look good on you.’
Words like that in
my memory
Fresh as the soft
touch of the fabric
From all those
years ago
Fusing memory, dream and desire.
*chunni is a long
scarf worn by South Asian women.
Soup Prayer
Lord,
Daily conversation
with you is great
What I really want
though
Is to invite you
to my home for a meal.
Sweet corn and
chicken soup is on the menu,
It’s my son’s
favorite
He’s away for
work,
Do drop by and
surprise us
No appointment
needed.
The soup bowls are
pretty too
And I promise you
good company
As always.
Advance booking is
also not necessary.
This is not the
first time
I have sent you an
invitation
Do you recall when
I looked heavenward
Wishing you were
at the table
In *Duke’s Cuisine
in Bombay
Where they served
the best
Sweet Corn and
Chicken soup?
Come quickly Lord
I know you won’t disappoint me.
*Duke’s Cuisine
was a Chinese Restaurant in Bombay that we loved.
Beautiful poems. And a wonderful imagery.
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