An evocative poem about spring that transcends from the mundane to divine, by Vinita  – an exclusive for Different Truths. 

line of the landscape

run through me to somewhere else - Zoë Skoulding

Earth in spring
wide slits of tulip red over carnation crimson
fiercely yellow laburnum
secret-purple jacaranda
 
Once a tree, a tree forever,
crowding headfirst into each other
fingers of roots in a handclasp underground
 
Brahm and Mozart
Spilling into the cosmos
Wafting over freshly mown grass
 
Antiseptic sunlight
musk of calyx
heavy notes of mango blossoms ripening summer moods

Seeds speaking
to the terracotta fragrance of soil
bursting into a language understood by all

The rhythm of spring - smooth as alabaster
turning land from a barren brown to alizarin green.
Father so taken, he prays every time he spots a bird.

Picture design Anumita Roy

Vinita Agrawal

Vinita is the author of five books of poems. Her latest collection, The Natural Language of Grief, is the winner of the Proverse Prize 2021. She is the poetry editor of Usawa. She is on the Advisory Board of the Tagore Literary Prize. She is also a part of various initiatives for social justice, like G100 and WICCI.

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