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Mustansir Dalvi
hardback awakening
The air is thick, and has revived
my books, anticipating the first spell
of Bombay monsoon. Ambient moisture
has slaked pages that shuffle and twist,
arise to a wakefulness, unleaving.
Feeling the discomfort of nearness, they push
like Harbour Line commuters in rush hour,
to complain I have neglected them too long.
At night, I am shaken by a poltergeist
thud snapping me out of a dream state.
I pull on my glasses, feel my way
to the bookshelves. The hardbacks wait for me,
annoyed. They fall on their sides, open wide
and like Gabriel,they call to me: 'Read!'
they cry, 'Read!'
©2003 by Mustansir Dalvi
Mustansir Dalvi teaches architecture in New Bombay, India. He is
Poetry Monitor at the Desert Moon Review. His poem "Peabody" was
awarded 1st Place in the InterBoard Poetry Competition, December
2002. He is published in Snakeskin, Octavo, Writer's Hood,
Pierian Springs, Crescent Moon Journal, The Brown Critique, Poetry
India and Poiesis.
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