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Kala Ramesh

Birds of a Feather

We’ve known each other through the words, poems and images our minds created. A six-year long association. Now we’re planning to come face-to-face in the flesh and I’m going to be walking on ground I’ve never stepped on before.

I feel mild trepidation as the day comes closer. I plan my words and wonder if I should hug or bring my hands together in a namaskaar. I still remember the first time I met a Japanese—he bowed and I bowed, and he bowed again. . .

The four of us end our meeting with smiles and hugs. We decide that we’ll now have our voices to lend rhythm and warmth to our poems when we read them across the seas.

the night
all to myself. . .
I complete
the unseen arc
of the crescent moon

autumn leaves
tapping at the window
waken my heart
to a rhythm that stirs
even my tired feet

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 Editor's Note:  autumn leaves  first  published in Gusts # 31, Spring/Summer 2020

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About the Author

Kala Ramesh is a renowned pioneer in the field of haikai literature in India. Her 2017 book Beyond the Horizon Beyond was awarded a Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize Certificate.