Prasun Goswami

The Pulse of Venomous Clay

How does the clay sprout? (when

darkness) noiselessly tears apart the petals of light;

here they are born— those who carry in their chests

a violent storm, desiring the uprooting of another sky.

 

A country (or a wound) stained with the color of hatred,

where certain creatures shaped like humans

bury the seeds of destruction inside their own shadows.

 

They smile and from their smiles drips

a sharp, blue venom toward another’s prayer—

how does this inhuman soil ever find life?