Trading relations
Abbas Panakkal
Marriage was cheaper
than ginger and pepper.
Mock trader satisfied ginger
smelling teenage girls,
flirted with pepper smelling boys.
Traditional taste of Karkidaka
porridge lingers on tongue.
Giggling tales at
the pond echoes in mind.
Agar smell of old teak,
burning at his posh drawing room,
takes gulp of intimacy.
Half native girls peeped
through the customary smoke.
Old lady,
kept the reddish look of
midnight henna,
told tale of halva bazaar
and explained geometry
of her bridal chamber.
She never knew
old bullock cart driver,
ardent lover,
not keeping time for an elopement.
Old vehicle and bulls
always came late in memories,
even in key moments.
Second childishness
salted away sadness of the land,
carts, lovers and spices
dissolved in Arabian saline sea.
