Epicurean Monsoons

26/10/10

Epicurean Monsoons by Rizwan Akhtar

Rizwan Akhtar divides his time between Aberdeen and Essex. He is currently a PhD student at the University of Essex. His poems have appeared in Poetry Salzburg Review, Poetry NZ, Wasafiri, Postcolonial Text, decanto, Poesia, PAK, Orbis, tinfoildresses, and have been anthologized in Poetry Forward Press, UK.

Epicurean Monsoons

After the first pelt
the dry earth loses its smell
boys splash in the muddy pools
and skim the collected surf
straws and dung balls glide
the old men yell and stride
the small tides hide bigger plights.

While in Lahore's waterlogged alleys
under corrugated tin roof
of vender's pushcart
jalebis*frizzle
in a pattering karahi*;
decked with plantain leaves
the Indus fish browns
in exaggerated spices
as the fire sticks out its scales,
and the air goes heavy with lust,
fingers lick the plates
the Monsoon lifts its lid
steaming white rice
sets the palates going
men belch at each picking
women adjust mosquito nets
on creaking cots,
the water keeps falling
from the funnelled roof
and covers the noise
when they make love
the holes in ceiling drip;
the lateral drops
douse
the bodies and pots.
 

Rizwan Akhtar

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