this landscape i call home

this landscape i call home
refuses to call me son.

it laughs at my accent
tenderly developed and pruned,

pats my khata peeta belly
that ascends the hills in elevators,

peers into my back pocket
that jingles with an alien sound,

smiles politely while i take pictures

and sighs at my pitiful understanding,

feeds me meals reserved for guests
and makes tasteful dinner conversation,

and then packs me off
back to where i came from
and goes back
to washing dishes.

18 comments:

Malsawmi Jacob said...

This poem feels like a wry smile. A bit sad at the alienation from one's roots, but voiced with humour.

Some words missing from the beginning of the second last stanza?

feddabonn said...

thanks for the comment, mesjay.

corrections made. thanks again!

Joe Pinto said...

hi baruk,

This is Joe -- Against the Tide.
Have your read e. e. cummings?
Also have a look at the blog "Strangely this happens" by glassbeads. The link is: http://randombattery.blogspot.com/

Warm regards,

- Joe.

Gauri Gharpure said...

wonderful wonderful wonderful baruk!!
this landscape I call home
refuses to call me son...

U write lines that i feel like reading and re-reading

Glassbeads said...

Hello feddabonn, very moving description.. lovely flow, please keep writing more :)

-Nm

feddabonn said...

joe:

sorry for such a delayed response. i have been rather offline for the last few months. i have read some cummings, though it seemed rather obscure to me at that time. should give it another shot. read and enjoyed glassbeads' work, thank you.

gauri:

thanks a heap! [big big goofy grin]

glassbeads:

thanks much! i'm afraid i'm rather driven by inspiration, and therefore tend to be a irregular poster at best! will try though!

Gauri Gharpure said...

my blog has a little something for you.. wish u had a merry christmas and are looking up to the new year

Gauri Gharpure said...

i sent an entry for the poster campaign.. thnks for passing on the note!

Indian Home Maker said...

Lovely lines!
I like the khata peeta belly bit also :)
Happy New Year !

feddabonn said...

thanks IHM! (though i'm rather tempted to ask what was wrong with the old one...) [grin]

Indian Home Maker said...

LOL :) I liked the way the old one ended,
.... just for a few happy weeks, uniting us all :)

PnB said...

i haven't blogged in some time, and i haven't read any poems or creative writing recently that i've wanted to read more than once.

"a few of my favorite things" i really love the complex and ambivalent imagery expressed with economy and violence.i think the poem is really powerful coz it has consistency that holds together while communicating the fragmented fucked-up-ness of life. The play with meaning and imagery is awesome and different 4m ur other pieces.

2 thumbs up! (like Borat, but in a serious way)

PnB said...

sorry, i commented in the wrong place.

i've been reading about ur bottles for sometime now, although i'm very irregular. i like the recurring metaphor of the bottle and how the metaphor never goes stale and take on a multitude of dimensions.
looking at most of your poems there is this continuity in your poems that more than just your own writing style and your issues of interest. i think this continuity gives ur poem focus without being restricted and give the poems a personal quality without sentimentalism.i don't see this in other blogger poets who i read.that's why i read u.

more poems!

feddabonn said...

thanks, PnB. critiques like yours make one think/feel maybe there IS a point to writing poetry after all!

PnB said...

Academics have made me dislike the word "critique", just say "comment" for my sake.

i know they say poetry can't be forced. but i know everyone who writes poetry has their stash of yet unpublished poems (for whatever reasons).well, you of the "khata peeta belly", this reader demands more!

feddabonn said...

grins at PnB and quickly sidles off to write a poem...

Ta'fxkz said...

strangely i feel the same way back here in Trichy!

serves me polite conversations that is reserved for guests

feddabonn said...

>>wry chuckle. the feeling of not "belonging" at home is more widespread than i'd imagined!