A fruit-laden branch of the vellari mango tree
bent over the whitewashed compound wall,
the support wheel under the black rickety gate groaned.
My Ammamma’s house—
two dull green pillars in the front porch,
marked by protruding red knobs.
Searching for the red lucky seeds I buried last summer,
my toes dug into antholes,
my eyes narrowing at the sourness of arinellikka
balanced by dipping it in salt.
The coconut midribs I pulled out from the broomstick
and broke into tiny pieces for Noormakolu
lay among the rusted tools in the brick shed.
At night, my Ammamma spread a cotton thorthu on her pillow,
her fingers running through my curls,
characters from folklore getting muddled
as her voice trailed off
into the uninterrupted hum of the ceiling fan.
Anjana Vipin Edakkunny is a writer from Kerala, India, currently based in the United States. Her work engages with myth, memory, inheritance and contemporary experience, tracing how they bleed into one another. Her poems have appeared in Target Global Magazine and PoemsIndia. This is her debut collection, The Sandalwood Pyre.
Comments are closed.
Beautiful narration.Your poem exactly narrates the real picture of wonderful days of those heavenly time with your Ammamma.The wonderful lady loved you so much and cared more than she cared anybody else even her own daughters.Anju you have every right to cherish those golden days and your desire to express through poem so we can atleast understand you even though it’s late to understand your feelings at that time.
Excellent poem 👏👏👏
Hearty congratulations dear Anju
Good Luck 🤞 for all your future ventures dear Ammu
May God Bless you to write ✍️ more and more Touching poetries in years to come 🙏🌹
Thank you to the Editorial team at Poetry Potion for considering my work! Truly a pleasure to see my poem on your pages.