Where a Scorpion Sleeps – Tête Fantastique by Sujata Bhatt


 
in response to Wols

Tic tac toe, your brain is full of crosses and o’s –
a graveyard full of dead friends.

A scorpion sleeps on your left eye
and your left ear is a worm.

Your voice, a sirena in disguise
escapes with her three eyes, her three noses
and a fish hook strapped to her head.
Who will she catch now?

There is so much space within your dreams,
space enough for agave flowers to grow and grow –

Tic tac toe, a man holds up a leaf
larger than himself, a leaf so hairy and prickly
he struggles against the thorns –
but he knows how to signal to your dead.

Nearby, a lump of bacteria lies unnoticed.

Meanwhile, the scorpion begins to dream,
begins to sink deeper into your skin –
 
 
 

Sujata Bhatt was born in India, educated in USA and is currently living in Germany with several collections of poetry published in UK. Collected Poems by Sujata Bhatt (PBS Special Commendation) has just been published by Carcanet Press (UK) in September 2013, and her new collection Poppies in Translation is forthcoming from Carcanet in 2014.