The Intimacy of Scorpions
These are the things I miss:
Squat mango trees.
Benny’s old Ambassador squeezed with fourteen to school each day.
The earth-smell on the first day of the rains.
The warmth of rain.
The intimacy of scorpions.
The surprise suddenness of nightfall.
Idiyappam and mutton rolls.
The crack, then thud, of falling coconuts.
Parrots on neem trees.
The hiss of a tarantula on fire.
Source: Poetry (April 2022)