Shakuntala Spellcheck: In Three Movements and one afterthought Movement 1 Miss Shakuntala. Wife of King Dushyant Daughter of sage Vishwamitra and apsara Menaka Left in the forest. Pushed by Durbasha. Fickle fate. Dancing with death. The diseased amnesia. The insistent

  वक़्त ये वक़्त क्या है ये क्या है आखि़र कि जो मुसलसल गुज़र रहा है ये जब न गुज़रा था तब कहाँ था कहीं तो होगा गुज़र गया है तो अब कहाँ है कहीं तो होगा कहाँ से आया

  ईगो मैंने एक साया अपना पाल रखा है आगे पीछे घूमता है जैसे छोटा ‘पोमी’ है भौंकता नहीं कभी किसी भी अजनबी पे ये अपना ही मिले कोई तो काट लेता है साया मेरा काट ले तो दांत के

  Ass Like Don Quixote He rides an ass and thinks he’s On a stallion. Pandava Five Pandava bums Screwing seven days a week Five Pandava bums.   Bombay Fumes shit pav bhaji Skyscrapers local trains rats Amitabh Bachchan.  

       for Alan Ross & Jane Rye RAILWAY STATION, BOMBAY   The coolie’s red jacket partially hides his blackened bones,   ones that show their fate under white wrappings of dhoti and turban.   He leap-frogs at you with

  Roast Chicken Contemplating the afterlife of birds, I empty the carcass. My wife offers rosemary sprigs, which I stuff into the cavity with whole garlic cloves and seared lemon halves, and then I compact it by tucking the wings

  Presumptions of Purity Come to bed. Switch off the light. Leave the music be, so we might Fill with darkness, and unwanted speech Spaces otherwise silent. Out of reach. Darkness enhances the music’s sound, Drowns your breaths, and the profound, Feeling