Three Poems by Abel Johnson Thundil

 

STONE HEART

I went to catch some salmon

And caught a stone heart instead;

Fitted to a rusting chain,

Having a cut through the middle.

Certainly,

Someone had a broken heart,

Or certainly,

Someone let another’s heart break.

I went to catch some salmon

And caught a stone heart instead.

The scar was big,

But the moss was trying its best to cover it up;

Sideways and green,

Like the simple robe of some Greek philosopher.

Sideways and green,

Until I rub it off

To see the pain,

The spark,

The depth.

 

 

NEON

The sun rises between the two buildings

And makes the neon signs light up prematurely.

The sun rises between the two buildings

And rubs the traffic with golden shampoo.

The buildings glow

And the broken steel pipe that crawls up

Cuts the air with a winking blade of light.

The sun rises between the two buildings

And makes the neon signs light up prematurely;

All in their original colours,

Despite the same light hitting them-

They are all different.

The sun rises between the two buildings

And makes the neon signs light up prematurely.

Yet, when it rises high enough,

There is no more light,

And all neon is just glass,

Looking like hollow skeletons

Stuck onto boards

Everywhere.

 

 

BUNCH

He was a vine

With many leaves but no fruit.

He said he didn’t need them.

But they kept clamouring

On what he was missing out.

He was a vine

With many leaves but no fruit

Because there was no space for them to grow.

The leaves twisted and curled in the sun,

And Wrapped inward into individual grapes.

The leaves twisted and curled in the sun,

But the grapes didn’t come together as a bunch.

So they fell to the ground

As soon as they formed;

Being wet

And muddy

And eaten by the earth

Slowly.

The leaves twisted and curled in the sun,

And Wrapped inward into individual grapes.

But they didn’t come together as a bunch.

So they didn’t grow.

Abel Johnson Thundil is a young poet from India. He runs a poetry blog called ‘Amaranthine; A blog of original poetry' where he posts everyday. His poems are sometimes sentimental, sometimes dark; but always with a madness that’s very enjoyable. His works have appeared in Terror House Magazine, The Pangolin Review, Fevers of the Mind, and Luminescence (Rosewood publications, India). He is currently looking for patrons to support his work.

Contact: abeljthundil@gmail.com