Neruda or Nobody

By Jaideep Saikia

"You are like a sword, blue and green
You undulate to the touch like a river
You are Neftali Reyes, Neruda, the ""Chilean Poet""!
Rising to decomposed, lazy afternoons, you
Leave me in the middle of my own moon
Wounded ground are sturdier, but
Cemeteries are no longer lonesome, the
Crowded deaths have entombed nobody
Plague has occupied every cranny of your Lankan memory
Shy jungle women haunt me as they do you, Pablo
Yet I am a nobody! And you...
You have copulated with statues, with
Testaments that cry out for autumn!
I am a nobody, Pablo, not lonely
Stray dogs, too, have been my companions, as have envy
Thought of “early winter” setting in makes me for
Moth-eaten blankets and a faraway marine night
I, too, weep in the midst of invasion, uncertainty...
But I no longer dream, I am not
Burdened any longer with my moral remains
I merely weep for a “residence on earth”, for a
Morning’s rumours afire with sacrifice
My scissors, too, are exhausted, Pablo
I no longer know you, as I had once
Memories are creatures spawn of fallen leaves, of
Skies that refuse to shed!
Come Pablo; let us together recite names of many
Yet I am a nobody! And you..."


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