Kiss

By Indran Amirthanayagam

Kissing your lips

I try to forget roses

or the fruit of palmyra trees

sweet and strong

Tongue lolling upon tongue

heart beating

against heart beating,

these are my words

signifying our human bodies

which poetry does not capture,

the absolute desire I have

to kiss your lips

on this hot and sunny afternoon.

I do not know how much longer

I can walk about the garden

kissing roses,

or perambulate the toddy tavern of my dreams

where black faces and white toddy mix

in black and white memories

of Jaffna, Sri Lanka,

my Tamil countrymen

far away on an island across the sea.

Far away and far away

the palmyra fruit and your lips.

To drink toddy now.

To kiss your rosy lips now.

To uproot the roses in my garden

and offer them upon my tongue now.

To fly to Sri Lanka

and grab the last fruit on the tree

before history throws the Tamils into the sea

as is said it will do;

before all this and everything else,

before the apocalypse,

I do so sincerely wish,

though my words may not fit,

to rest my head in your hair

and kiss your lips.

Copyright Credit: Indran Amirthanayagam, "Kiss" from The Elephants of Reckoning. Copyright © 1993 by Indran Amirthanayagam. Reprinted by permission of Hanging Loose Press.

Source: The Elephants of Reckoning (Hanging Loose Press, 1993)