Vol. II. Issue. III September 2011 - The Criterion: An International ...

www.the-criterion.com The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN 0976-8165
The stinging of hunger
The rattling of batteries
The former is liquid
The latter is onomatopoeic
Both kills
Hunger turns liquid into d-r-o-p d-r-o-p thirst,
thirst for power, oil, blood and water.
Hunger
My woman, my child & myself
Lay clad in war-stripped rags.
d-r-o-p d-r-o-p d-r-o-p thirst of tingling
Sizzling hunger-viper entice us.
We were silently gaping at the sky
Our eyes wide open were protruding out of sockets.
Three well-bred penises took charge of our bodies.
Like towers, they grow into skyscrapers rooting them into us.
We all laugh in pleasure! Oh what a pleasure!
My child giggles vomiting uranium!
Few yards away
In my delirium I see Mother Kali standing stripped
Protruding her dried tongue and her breasts wrinkled.
Shiva who usually sleeps beneath her feet is missing
He has gone to fetch a can of Cola.
Arijit Ghosh
Puducherry, India
Vol. II. Issue. III 297 September 2011