WE VIEW - SUNDAY

A SUNDAY EVENING IN MUMBAI, 2006
You and I were too poor,
yet we took shelter against the rain
at the Taj Hotel.
You, the ever-adventurous, sang “Macarena”
in the hall in conspiracy with
an indulgent pianist.
The charmed evening led us to
the Sea Lounge, where we sat by the windows
watching waves crash into stones.
The kind young waitress laughed with us;
we were a broke couple who could
afford only two syrupy rose mocktails.
The sea thrashed about under heavy raindrops,
like a woman under her lover’s caresses.
That Sunday, thirteen years ago,
we were young and in love.
It was raining, and the lamps vaporized
into pale gold.
My parents scolded me for coming home late.
Since then, I have waited for thirteen years now.
I have not listened to “Macarena” again.
- Jagari Mukherjee
Jagari Mukherjee holds an MA in English Language and Literature from University of Pune,
and was awarded a gold medal and several prizes by the University for excelling in her
discipline. Her poems and other creative pieces have been published in different venues both
in India and abroad. She is a Best of the Net 2018 nominee, a DAAD scholar from Technical
University, Dresden, Germany, a Bear River alumna, and the winner of the Poeisis Award for
Excellence in Poetry 2019, among other awards. She recently won the Reuel International
Prize For Poetry 2019. Her chapbook Between Pages was published by Cherry-House Press,
Illinois, USA, in June 2019. She is currently pursuing her PhD from Seacom Skills
University, Bolpur, India.
22 | P a g e