Poems by Leela Gandhi
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Brainfever Birdsong
It cries and wails and laments. The thundering clouds rain down in all ten directions; its thirst is not quenched until it catches the Swanti rain-drop in its mouth. Raag Malaar, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 1273 The force is fallen foul less of electricity than of breath (Who wants their flowers driven like horses through a green fuse anyway?) Once my fists were green oaks clenched at the marge for seasonal outburst Now I no cant world is memo Now I no prolix anymore This pulmonary decorum. But look look the brainfever bird Behold her streakéd chest Behold her damnable iteration In the constant lights of Villupuram She cants she cavils 24/7 (because the cock is not the only clock) Where me love where me eyes where me rain? Mostly where me rain Gimme that soupçon of driblet. Gimme! Up up from the muzzle girl Up up from the cage You is the green parrot with the red eye You is the temple boom box You is the Tindivanam highway You is you is you is. Vālmīki Variation: In Which Sīta Delivers a Lecture on Nonviolence She says | don’t || Don’t | carry your arrows | sharpened | with golden tailfins | your doomsday fire | endless as sky | into the forest | in your hands your arms | the color of gloaming || My life | my person | beautiful || O Mahābhujaḥ || His arms were like śāla trees | resinous and durable | when he moves | it ends || She says | don’t || Don’t | carry your swords | shapely | as bamboo leaf | into the forest | where birds and animals | delight | in your hands your arms | dark as monsoon clouds | incendiary || My life | my person | beautiful || O Ājānubāhu || His arms were like śāla trees | resinous and durable | when he moves | it ends || She says | don’t || Don’t | carry your weapons | invincible | inevitable | your hard and wounded ordinances | your birds of prey | into the forest | in your hands your arms | of rubble || My life | my person | beautiful || O Pralambabāhuḥ || His arms were like śāla trees | resinous and durable | when he moves | it ends || She says | don’t || |
Leela Gandhi was born in Bombay, and she studied in Delhi and Oxford. She is John Hawkes Professor of Humanities and English at Brown University. Her publications include Postcolonial Theory (revised edition, 2019), The Common Cause (2015), Affective Communities (2006), and Measures of Home: Selected Poems (2000). She is working on a mixed-genre work on modern nonviolence that incorporates poetry and criticism.
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