Poetry pick: Grief by Meera Ganapathi
This week’s pick is a poem from the collection, How To Forget, which the author calls “a book of short steps and long walks along familiar routes that have often led me to unexpected places”
The trouble with the dead isthey’re still alive to some of us; when I nearly step on a fallen sparrowlong eyes shut, feathers gleaming, it doesn’t look dead enough to meand I think again of those who’ve gone but still remainin cozy Tamil I may never speak againin sandalwood soap and a certain song;I use a leaf and a twig to nudgethe dead sparrow to a cornerto push a memory awayand keep walkingbut the trouble with me isI’m terrified of forgetting.
In spare and lucid lines of poetry and prose, How to Forget takes the reader on a walk through childhood, love, loss and longing. Told through memory and impressions both personal and communal, the book chronicles lifetimes through the act of walking.
These journeys often follow the same paths but end in unexpected conclusions. An elephant wanders through tea estates in the Nilgiris, a woman confronts the night, prawns are tossed in chilli oil, a childhood is lost and solitude is found in 55 walks across cities and timelines.
With gentle and insightful observations, Ganapathi offers soothing respite from the chaos of our cities and the clamour of our thoughts. *
*Copy from book flap.
