‘A Knot that Would Not Unknot’ – Two Poems by Gopi Kottoor
Photo: Karan Madhok
Poetry: ‘And then, the sip / From the spoon / That’ll soon become memory, / That slowly drawn inward kiss’
How to Make Love
Just enough spices,
A few herbs,
A fragrance of leaves
That stirs up the appetite;
The freshness of things,
Washed clean,
Their colours
Luminous in the water;
A small amount of salt,
A little sugar,
It’ll bring on the taste in all its wildness,
And then the bodies,
Gently tossed over.
Over all that fire,
The steam, the language
Of bubbles that burst
Without words.
Now it’s nearing order,
As things press closer,
Tighter than thought,
Turning it all, one.
And then, the sip
From the spoon
That’ll soon become memory,
That slowly drawn inward kiss
Breathing good night.
*
Knot
A knot that would not unknot
You and me.
Now cut
Just close to where the knot would not unknot,
goes sinking down to sea.
The things that lie buried there,
That make no difference
Between the living and the dead
They pale to insignificance
With the knot
Cut so close
to where it would not
unknot
You and me,
Sinking down,
Just
One more jeweled thing
***
Gopi Kottoor's poems have won prizes of the British Council in India. They have appeared in Acumen, Eunoia Journal, Nth Position, Orbis, The Rising Phoenix, Verse, Seattle, Indian Literature, and others. His work has been featured in anthologies including They have featured in anthologies of repute as Converse, Best Indian Poetry, The Bloodaxe Book of Indian Poetry, Both Sides of the Sky, and more.
