Remini-Senses
©April 27th, 2017
By Vijaya Sundaram
Jasmines stir up specific yearnings:
Mornings after a rain-drenched night,
Loud birds, hopping from tree to tree.
The smell of sambhar and murungakkai,
And kathrikai curry, and kootu,
And karpooram and udubatthi,
And the ringing of the brass bell,
Sandalwood-scented parents,
Red-gold-bordered veshti-ed Appa
Pattu–podavai-wearing Amma,
Performing their morning devotions
Before the family gods and goddesses.
The sound of baby brother
Calling for our mother.
Jasmines stir up deep desires, too:
The feel of satin-smooth skin
After an warm-oil bath on Sundays.
Sunsilk Shampoo to mask
The earthy fragrance of shikkai.
Mangoes heaped in baskets
From our mango trees,
Fleshy and succulent,
Dripping with juice, as I eat
With pulp-covered fingers.
And the coconut-man’s harvest
Of our garden’s coconut trees,
Sit, inviting the sickle.
Stick a straw in, and suck
Suck all the coconut milk,
And I’m satiated.
Jasmines stir up sweet innocence:
A dream of romance,
Someday, the man I love
Will arrive, and we will sing
And live and love together, she thinks.
And all the while, this girl-child
Goes about her schooldays,
Reads and reads, and sings
All day, plays games on the terrace,
Teaches imaginary children,
Rows an imaginary boat
From the parapet, onto which
She leaps, goat-nimble, unaware
That she might fall, unafraid
Of all that is to be.
____________________________________________________________
Glossary:
Sambhar – a specific kind of Indian lentil-stew with too many ingredients to explain properly, but it’s absolutely delicious
Murungakkai – a long, pod-like vegetable from the “drumstick tree,” which is used in sambhar.
Kathrikai – a vegetable curry dish made with eggplant, or brinjal
Kootu – a stew with coconut, dudhi squash, lentils, yogurt and other delicious ingredients
Karpooram – camphor
Udubatthi – incense stick
Veshti – a sort of robe covering the lower half of the body, worn by men.
Pattu Podavai – silk sari
This is my second poem in response to the NaPoWriMo 2017 prompt for Day 27.