Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Sudeep Sen

Offering

Offering

Offering

the kindness of libation, lyric and blood

her endless notes left for me –
                                                                                   little secrets, graces –
                                          trills recorded on blue and purple parchment
to be lipped, tasted, devoured –

only essence remains –
                          its stickiness, its juice, its memory

seamless juxtaposition –
                               the brute and the passion,
                                                        dry of the bone and wet of the sea,
coarseness of the page and smooth of the nib’s iridium

I try and trace a line, a very long line –

                      the ink blots
                                                     as this line’s linear edges
dissolve and fray –

the capillary threads
                          gone mad
                                                      twirling in the deep heat of the tropics –

threads unravelling,
                             each sinew tense with the want of moisture
and the other’s flesh

there are no endings here –
only beginnings –
                                                  precious incipience –

translucent drops of sweat
perched precariously on her collar-bone
                                                                                    waiting to slide,
roll unannounced into the gulleys
that yearn to soak in the rain –

heart-beat shift
the shape of globules
                                                          as they alter their balance and colour,
changing their very point of gravity –

constantly deceiving the other

I stand, wanting –
                             wanting more of the bone’s dry edge,
the infinite blur of desire,
                                                                                                       the dream,
the wet, the salt, the ink,
and                                                                             the underside of her skin.
Close

Offering

the kindness of libation, lyric and blood

her endless notes left for me –
                                                                                   little secrets, graces –
                                          trills recorded on blue and purple parchment
to be lipped, tasted, devoured –

only essence remains –
                          its stickiness, its juice, its memory

seamless juxtaposition –
                               the brute and the passion,
                                                        dry of the bone and wet of the sea,
coarseness of the page and smooth of the nib’s iridium

I try and trace a line, a very long line –

                      the ink blots
                                                     as this line’s linear edges
dissolve and fray –

the capillary threads
                          gone mad
                                                      twirling in the deep heat of the tropics –

threads unravelling,
                             each sinew tense with the want of moisture
and the other’s flesh

there are no endings here –
only beginnings –
                                                  precious incipience –

translucent drops of sweat
perched precariously on her collar-bone
                                                                                    waiting to slide,
roll unannounced into the gulleys
that yearn to soak in the rain –

heart-beat shift
the shape of globules
                                                          as they alter their balance and colour,
changing their very point of gravity –

constantly deceiving the other

I stand, wanting –
                             wanting more of the bone’s dry edge,
the infinite blur of desire,
                                                                                                       the dream,
the wet, the salt, the ink,
and                                                                             the underside of her skin.

Offering

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère