Note: There’s a glossary below for those who’d like it.

Once Upon A Story

I remember how I wished to tell
of an old, widowed village woman
as she passed through every season
of the calendar, seasons with Sanskrit
names all vaguely familiar. I hoped
to limn the heat of greeshma with
my pen, and catch in salient words
the earthy whiff of a humid wind
that made the dust swirl lyrically;
before I sketched how sharad’s cold
(that knifed her skin with consummate ease)
was the child of an unfeeling ocean-breeze;
and how even watery varshā’s rains
could hardly help her feel less alone.

But, tell me, what does privilege know
of village and woman, old and widowed?

(written ca. 2015)

Glossary:

1. greeshma (greesh-maah): One of the six seasons of the Hindu lunar calendar. It is (roughly) the equivalent of summer.

2. sharad (shuh-wrudh): Another one of the six seasons. Its closest equivalent is winter.

3. varshā (whurr-shaah): The season of the monsoon or the rains.