Sunday Poem: Bou’s Saree

Bou’s saree is pure magic.
Have you not seen this magic?
From a box emerge
a kaleidoscope of butterflies,
kites with tails, balloons,
fingers cut fresh from the palm,
shards of glass, cracked lips, crackling fires,
and thin, translucent fogs.

When the sun is too strong,
or there is a storm,
Bou’s saree opens up and spreads
like an umbrella on one’s head
and turns the season.

On highways when chewing on shards of glass,
one is feeling bored with gods, dreams,
insurance companies, fate,
destiny and lottery tickets,
we hang Bou’s saree
as a screen on our doors and windows
and quickly fashion our dream islands;
foams from the seas,
shadows of coconut trees and silences.

Bou’s saree is the fantastic green of kalama tank;
where there are no thorns,
no dew,
when everything is bright and clear;
only her rage in the forest
with her stripes of yellow and black,
and mad steps and madder roars,
when we won’t get our rightful share
of the moon or arisa pitha.

In Bou’s eyes these days
I see the helplessness of a magician
who has to ask for pennies
after having produced a shower of gold coins
from the air.
I have not been able to ask her to tell me
whether she has sought and lost last spring
the feel and the excitements
of someone dear.

But Bou’s saree is still pure magic.

Note: Chirashree Indrasingh (1966-) is one of the leading contemporary writers of fiction in Odia, as well as a noted poet in her own right. She published her first book of Odia short stories, titled ‘Bengabati Katha’ (Frog Woman’s Tale) in 1997. She has since published seven short story collections, two anthologies of poems and a couple of novellas. ‘Utiani Sanja,’ ‘Aanka Banka Naee,’ ‘Bidambana,’ and ‘Sua’ are some of her notable works. She is the recipient of Bhubaneswar Book Fair Award, Kanheilal Award, Subrata Rath Memorial Award, and a Fellowship from the Department of Culture, Government of India, among others. She teaches political science at U N (Autonomous) College, Adashpur, Odisha.