Untitled Poem #1

By | 31 October 2020

“Is my love nothing for I’ve borne no children?”
I’m with you, Sappho, in that anarchist land.

– Agha Shahid Ali


Move into a rented house in a foreign land and imagine that you are making a home.

Tie a toran on the door frame. If there is no garden, plant a Jasud and a Champa in pots. Here, you can even find a Mogra plant. In the Botanic Gardens you can see an Ashoka tree along with Orchids. Two years ago there was news of people flocking to see the bright orange flowers of an Ashoka in bloom in Choa Chu Kang. Not the tall False Ashoka that the British favoured in India, a real Ashoka. The kind they say the Buddha was born underneath. There are many large trees here. Far from buildings, far from me.

Move into a rented house in a foreign land and imagine that you are making a home.

Plant in a pot and imagine you are planting a tree. If not for your children, for yourself.

 


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