red on green

pleas to sustain and spare the pain

we’re bared to you for your gain

no cloak no quilt

only a mother’s guilt,

watching the glee with which

my green roots and shoots

trembled under your creaky boots;

grumbling old men with jittery teeth

that clatter and grind over beetle leaves

and worms in gums that chatter together

leaving big stains and a cancerous pane

of crimson and brown and blood and hound.

grumbling old men that don’t hesitate

to strike check mate-

and bring my fate,

axes and picks and saws- a dozen

only to kill all millions heathens.

grumbling old men that use the knife

to kill all of their wives

it’s similar to that don’t you see?

I served them too with brilliant tea.

so life is cut and life is eased

life is cut and life is eased

for deserted plains that resemble grey

desperation and dismay

-Tanmay

part

oh how he wailed into the lacerating night

the night he lost his wife

he wailed and wailed and wailed

until the clouds parted and a concerned

moon showed its scarred face

and gave the man a shadow to pour his pain out

of course it didn’t help

what could a moon do except raise some water day in and day out

so our man howled and wailed and cursed the

silent knife of a night

the silent night that let his wife pass away

unceremoniously

-Tanmay