BOTANICALLY

It was a slant love.
Back to back,
lips to lips.

Lethal and dark
strong yet delicate
like spider's web.

A dark side of the moon
sending conflicting
signals to bacilli-

of dirty lane, pink
and blue. My pug
licks the toes.

The pugmark on
green body. I am now
flowering. Hydrangeas.

•


The primrose half-asleep
Calendula was burning
in veins.

Unisex. The clenched
fist of a desire. I will
not accept a half-lip.

The chaste tree was sending
a bouquet of
steaming pistils.

Where the sun will sleep
tonight? Till the love-making
was over on tangerines.

The loose skin now
invites the red ants, crawling,
wearing your nails.

Satish Verma