Poetry

My Indian In-laws

I remember India:

palm trees, monkey families,

fresh lime juice in the streets,

the sensual inundation

of sights and smells

and excess in everything.

I was exotic and believable there.

I was walking through dirt

in my sari,

to temples of the deities

following the lead

of my Indian in-laws.

I was scooping up fire with my hands,

glancing at idols that held no meaning for me,

being marked by the ash.

They smiled at the Western woman,

acting religious, knowing

it was my way of showing respect.

It was an adventure for me

but an arm around their culture for them.

To me it was living a dream

I knew I could wake up from.

To them it was the willingness

to be Indian that pleased.

We were holding hands

across a cultural cosmos,

knowing there were no differences

hearts could not soothe.

They accepted me

as I accepted them,

baffled but in love

with our wedded mystery.

 

Wayward Wind

My patient, Paul, wrote in a poem

that he belongs to the wayward wind,

a restless breed,

a strange and hardy class.

I’ve been with him for two years

and now he is dying.

“Are you in pain, Paul?” I ask.

“I AM pain,” he said.

But he is refusing medication

although his cancer has spread

from his kidneys to his lungs, brain and bones.

Somehow bearing this pain to the grave

is his last act of defiance/bravery/repentance.

My hands are tied.

My job now is to protect his choice

and later as promised

to collect his ashes,

read his poems in my garden

then set him free in the wind

where he belongs.

Subraman is a poet, writer, artist and hospice nurse. Her writing can be found in over 400 journals, reviews, anthologies, books and chapbooks. Her art can be seen mostly in her living room and homes of friends. Her hospice work is felt in the hearts and minds of patients' families long after she has eased their loved ones through the final journey.

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Newspaper Tree is pleased to consider submissions of poetry for publication in upcoming issues. Please submit up to five poems of no more than two pages, along with a biographical note of no more than 30 words, to Donna Snyder, Poetry Curator, c/o publisher@newspapertree.com.