February 10–Mumbai Poetry Live
I was there…
at the Mumbai Poetry Live…and boy, it was fabulous!
John Agard, Grace Nicholas, Imtiaz Dharkar, Shamshad Khan, Eunice de Souza, Adil Jussawalla, Ranjit Hoskhote, Jerry Pinto, Arundhati Subramaniam, Jerry Pinto, Menka Shivdasani, CP Surendran, Marilyn Noronha, Sampurna Chattarji, Anju Makhija and Revathy Gopal were the poets present. As Jerry pointed out, it was ‘poets in concert’. I can’t say anything else except everyone was absolutely wonderful. If you are going to be there tomorrow at Prithvi to catch a repeat, do not miss Agard, Khan and Dharkar…extremely evocative delivery.
I’m not going to say more…Just read the following and enjoy…
I’m putting down work of just 5 poets…Sorry…I can’t type 16 poems…
—————————————————————————————
Captive--By Imtiaz Dharkar
You went out the other day,
caught a city like a bird for me,
and put it in a window frame
to amuse me in my captivity.
Revisiting the prison door
is risky. Opening it is the start
of a certain madness.
Inside the frame and outside,s
eparated by it and yet joined,
we watch each other
with no means to hide
how much can we change.
Light passes through our canyons,
skies wheel, traffic moves
across our face,
the face we share, reflected
in each other’s glass
Chance has put us here.
Chance keeps us here,
two willing captives,
the city and I,
given to each other
like a gift.
Don’t open the door too soon.
Among the electric trees,
across a transparent moon
we are spinning fragile monuments
to celebrate ourselves.
We are still here, still alive.
—————————————————————————————
Advice to Women--By Eunice De Souza
Keep cats
If you want to learn to cope with
the otherness of lovers.
Otherness is not always neglect—
Cats return to their litter trays
when they need to.
Don’t cuss out of the window
at their enemies.
That share of perpetual surprise
in those great green eyes
will teach you
to die alone
—————————————————————————————
Half-Caste--By John Agard
Excuse me
standing on one leg
I’m half-caste
Explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean Picasso
mix red an green
is a half-caste canvas/
explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean life an shadow
mix in de sky
is a half-caste weather/
well in dat case
england weather
nearly always half-caste
infact some o dem cloud
half-caste till em overcase
so spiteful den don’t want de sun pass
ah rass/
explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean tchaikovsky
sit down at dah piano
an mix a black key
wid a white key
is a half-caste symphony/
Explain yuself
wha yu mean
Ah listening to you wid de keen
half of mih ear
Ah lookin at yu wid de keen
half of mih eye
and when I’m introduced to yu
I’m sure you’ll
understand
why I offer yu half-a-hand
an when I sleep at night
I close half-a-eye
consequently when I dream
I dream half-a-dream
an when moon begin to glow
I half-caste human being
cast half-a-shadow
but yu must come back tomorrow wid de whole of yu eye
an de whole of yu mind
an I will tell yu
de other half
of my story
—————————————————————————————
Window-- By Jerry Pinto
What can you do with a window?
It will always remain four-cornered
Always be a savagery to the sky
Always offer enough room for only one head
Or one cloud
There’s nothing open about a window
—————————————————————————————
Love Over Eating and Over Hearing--By Shamshad Khan
you taste food in the same way you listen to music
with reverent ecstasy
tasting each cadence in sound. Separating layers of rhythm
savour slithers of melting melody
whilst hearing salt grind
in the unexpected sweet refrain
held at the back of your throat
the deepest base
touches the tip of your tongue
so sourness sings
its sharp twist
to curdle drums
you peel a piano concentrating on keeping the spiral
flavour spins the radio dial
blur of colliding in your headphones
in the wet street a woman and a man argue about
who should have rung who
on rainy days I am told everything tastes like music.
—————————————————————————————
Shamshad’s voice was ‘orgasmic’ as a friend put it. He’s going today again to catch her performance.
For all those who missed, it’s on at Prithvi theatre tomorrow Feb 12, 2006.
at the Mumbai Poetry Live…and boy, it was fabulous!
John Agard, Grace Nicholas, Imtiaz Dharkar, Shamshad Khan, Eunice de Souza, Adil Jussawalla, Ranjit Hoskhote, Jerry Pinto, Arundhati Subramaniam, Jerry Pinto, Menka Shivdasani, CP Surendran, Marilyn Noronha, Sampurna Chattarji, Anju Makhija and Revathy Gopal were the poets present. As Jerry pointed out, it was ‘poets in concert’. I can’t say anything else except everyone was absolutely wonderful. If you are going to be there tomorrow at Prithvi to catch a repeat, do not miss Agard, Khan and Dharkar…extremely evocative delivery.
I’m not going to say more…Just read the following and enjoy…
I’m putting down work of just 5 poets…Sorry…I can’t type 16 poems…
—————————————————————————————
Captive--By Imtiaz Dharkar
You went out the other day,
caught a city like a bird for me,
and put it in a window frame
to amuse me in my captivity.
Revisiting the prison door
is risky. Opening it is the start
of a certain madness.
Inside the frame and outside,s
eparated by it and yet joined,
we watch each other
with no means to hide
how much can we change.
Light passes through our canyons,
skies wheel, traffic moves
across our face,
the face we share, reflected
in each other’s glass
Chance has put us here.
Chance keeps us here,
two willing captives,
the city and I,
given to each other
like a gift.
Don’t open the door too soon.
Among the electric trees,
across a transparent moon
we are spinning fragile monuments
to celebrate ourselves.
We are still here, still alive.
—————————————————————————————
Advice to Women--By Eunice De Souza
Keep cats
If you want to learn to cope with
the otherness of lovers.
Otherness is not always neglect—
Cats return to their litter trays
when they need to.
Don’t cuss out of the window
at their enemies.
That share of perpetual surprise
in those great green eyes
will teach you
to die alone
—————————————————————————————
Half-Caste--By John Agard
Excuse me
standing on one leg
I’m half-caste
Explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean Picasso
mix red an green
is a half-caste canvas/
explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean life an shadow
mix in de sky
is a half-caste weather/
well in dat case
england weather
nearly always half-caste
infact some o dem cloud
half-caste till em overcase
so spiteful den don’t want de sun pass
ah rass/
explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean tchaikovsky
sit down at dah piano
an mix a black key
wid a white key
is a half-caste symphony/
Explain yuself
wha yu mean
Ah listening to you wid de keen
half of mih ear
Ah lookin at yu wid de keen
half of mih eye
and when I’m introduced to yu
I’m sure you’ll
understand
why I offer yu half-a-hand
an when I sleep at night
I close half-a-eye
consequently when I dream
I dream half-a-dream
an when moon begin to glow
I half-caste human being
cast half-a-shadow
but yu must come back tomorrow wid de whole of yu eye
an de whole of yu mind
an I will tell yu
de other half
of my story
—————————————————————————————
Window-- By Jerry Pinto
What can you do with a window?
It will always remain four-cornered
Always be a savagery to the sky
Always offer enough room for only one head
Or one cloud
There’s nothing open about a window
—————————————————————————————
Love Over Eating and Over Hearing--By Shamshad Khan
you taste food in the same way you listen to music
with reverent ecstasy
tasting each cadence in sound. Separating layers of rhythm
savour slithers of melting melody
whilst hearing salt grind
in the unexpected sweet refrain
held at the back of your throat
the deepest base
touches the tip of your tongue
so sourness sings
its sharp twist
to curdle drums
you peel a piano concentrating on keeping the spiral
flavour spins the radio dial
blur of colliding in your headphones
in the wet street a woman and a man argue about
who should have rung who
on rainy days I am told everything tastes like music.
—————————————————————————————
Shamshad’s voice was ‘orgasmic’ as a friend put it. He’s going today again to catch her performance.
For all those who missed, it’s on at Prithvi theatre tomorrow Feb 12, 2006.
posted by Maya @ 12:06 AM
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