roaches scurry frantic
bodies on fire
upturn or plummet
legs frenzied
dance at a cobwebbed
ceiling heavy on horizontals
crisscrossing the sky
roaches spawned in pesticide
stiffen and die
incessant mindless sing song
of your name behind darkened eyes
panicked wrestling with doubt
festering in want of
some amputation a little gangrene
to spice up a cloistered day
torture with red hot tongs
of frail widows in submerged white
cymbals clash taut on string
while breaking out
into spontaneous praise
of the sweating sun
at midnight
on smelly bed sheets
at midnight
one more trough
between pinnacles of faith
hysteria is a terrible weight
on a crushed chest
the grinding
of rib cage into spine.
Ashok Niyogi, California. USA
Ashok Niyogi is an Economics graduate from Presidency
ReplyDeleteCollege, Calcutta. He made a career as an
International Trader and has lived and worked in the
Soviet Union, Europe and South East Asia in the ‘80s
and ‘90s.
At 52, he has been retired for some years and has been
cashew farming, writing and traveling. He divides time
between California, where his daughters live, Delhi
and the Indian Himalayas.
He is increasingly involved in his personal spiritual
quest and has undertaken serious study of scripture.
He has published a book of poems, TENTATIVELY,
[iUniverse, Lincoln, NE – 1995] and has been
extensively published in print and on-line magazines
in the USA, UK, Australia and Canada. Numerous chap
books of his poems have been brought out by SCARS
Publications, UC-Davis, and others.
Ashok writes about life.