ZODIACS

1

I open a vintage notebook

and place my blue-ice topaz

next to your blood-drop red garnet.

I place my chrysanthemum

in your hand

and adorn my hair

with your carnation;

your Saturn defeats my Mars

in all cosmic wars;

the waters of  my being

seep into your earth.

 

2

 Had we been children,

then there would be no shame

in holding you –

perhaps no lust.

We might be naked;

we might look

and touch and feel;

and never regret the past.

We might (even) wonder

at the differences

we have seen.

 

For instance, in essence,

topaz is different from garnet

because red is not blue.

But then, only you have

taught me how to

paint a tsunami

with dark, watery hues.

 

The stormy sea on our canvas

is a turbulent purple-green.

 

• Jagari Mukherjee