Albatross By Vennila

Albatross By Vennila

The gills of my life lie on the cot
with the waves of breath drumming between
the skin and bones showing regular upheavals that
gnaw me deep with the woodpecker’s beak
digging through the heap of doubts
Oh Mother! Will you be alive to sail me safe?

I grow up under your vigilant pulse
along with the fire-ball’s everlasting journey
and the return of the queen of night
threatens to fortify my skeptical thoughts
pushing me deep into every dark hole
Oh Mother! Will you survive to help me grow?

Under the unbridled limbs of the banyan
I suffocate as I branched out with my own
clinging on to my limbs as I yearn to take off
but stays connected to the stone-pedestal
trying to detach the undesired umbilical cord
Oh Mother! Don’t be an Albatross around my neck!

Woman-born Man
Woman-born man,
the stalactites on the roof of her cave,
the hanging dagger targeting her heart,
the fringes around Vesuvius’ mouth,
with words half-cooked, anger unsubdued,
becomes her Orion hunting her mind and matter.

Woman-born man,
the silhouette of her frail frame,
the outrageous designer of her selfless name,
the weird harbinger of her vicious fate,
with his darkest passions quashing her unborn desires,
chases her to the edge with his Cyclops’ eye.

Woman-born man,
the broken sword of a warrior in death’s hands,
the fading rays of the giant Sun,
the last sigh of the dying tsunami,
with his unquenched thirst to surmount his creator,
succumbs to his phoenix-abode to be born again.

Vennila Ramanathan, Associate Professor of English at Bharathi Women’s college in Chennai, is interested in writing poems, short stories and flash fiction. They have appeared in Transnational ejournal, Inspired by Tagore International Publication 2011-12, Roots and Wings: An Anthology of Indian Women Writing in English, New Harvest Millenium Magazine, A World Rediscovered (Cyberwit publication), The Poetic Bliss, International Poetry Anthology and Wordweavers, an online magazine.