Amit Parmessur- Two Poems

You Are No Cartoon Gal

Your hair is so curled in innocence

that it has fallen all over your right eye.

Or, is it an intended half

Peek-a-boo of a new, lively girlie?

I can see the milky moon in your face;

I can see your virtuous visage in the moon.

There is a plethora of magical black rivulets

going & tangoing all along your beautiful hair,

without your consent. There’s a wild

reverie in your veiled eye too but

I know you’ve learnt life’s not a comic cartoon.

On your lovely, naïve cheeks the wounds

of unfair battles and misfortune are still visible,

but now your melodic smile will flourish,

furtively, making you a most merry woman.

Always be as childish and multi-colored

as your Sammy & Molly tee-shirt, poetic gal.

Behind you it is blue paradise, behold,

filled with long episodes of freedom.

Whatever episode you choose you’ll

taste your dreams, and your scars will fade.

Your tight lips wrapped in pale pink wax

are singing so many hymns nowadays— lemme

hear you a bit tonight, before you start dreaming,

charming flower.

Remember, many men would love to be

your lucky wristwatch, without your consent…

Snake Hunting

As if he’d thrown his toned body

into the lush grass,

like a lame stone flying.

To see those shining muscles—

what if he were to coil around our ankles!

I had to ask myself why

he should dangle on

that mossy rock like that. He

was intimidating.

See, see if you understand the

watercolor stripes he’s

proudly sporting.

The burn in his throat,

I see nothing more mighty.

You care nothing for

his youthful eyes that plead

for a life smooth as the pieces

of Kraft Cheese left in our battered bags?

African friends, abandon this snake.

I am not a seasoned hunter—

let’s chase something else.

I’m just a few meters from him—

Wake up, now, big snake.

I’m holding the trembling stick,

running like a mad crab

towards him.

As if he would plunge into

the sound of the dull forest now!

There I go.

There he slithers away.

We followed.

Born in 1983 Amit Parmessur is one of the editors of poetry magazine The Rainbow Rose. Since 2010, his poems have appeared in around 100 literary magazines, such as: Ann Arbor Review, The Camel Saloon, Calliope Nerve, Damazine, Zouch Magazine and many others. He is nominated for the Pushcart Prize and lives in Quatre-Bornes, Mauritius.