[Poetry] Two Poems by Ojasi Mehta

We have a globe in our hands

“Mamma! Why don’t we go on a vacation?”

My daughter pops up this question every other day.

“We can go in the evening, or tomorrow

or on this Sunday.”

Oh yes! We will go. We will go.

I tell her a lie. Then epilogue of lies.

“See! We have a globe in our hands. Where do you wanna go my princess?” We laugh soft pretentious.

The laughter is a seal, we keep in store for special purpose.

Before sleeping she reminds, ”mamma story!”

I narrate the tall peaks, how snowy it is there

we can’t go now. I speak about the deserts,

how burning it is there, we can’t go now.

I picture before her the ocean.

How the weather is harsh there.

We can’t go now.

We can’t go now. Baby… we can’t… goodnight! Sweet wandering!

Feather-keepers

Some childhoods

are isolated fields;

unnoted sun

gleaming alone;

play with

pebbles, soil;

deeply rooted

emptiness; butterflies

gleeful in their own

little word. Some

children run after

Age, to catch

chimeric happiness,

growing up sooner

with covert wisdom,

picking up feathers

discarded, caring,

loving, nursing them,

feeding light,

reading them

tales of heroism

and lulling them

to dreams of comfort

and closeness.

Ojasi Mehta is an emerging bilingual writer and a cultural activist from India. Presently, she teaches communication skills and human values to engineering students. She is a travel enthusiast and is deeply in love with mighty waves.