Meena Alexander was an Indian poet, raised in India and the Sudan, while later studying in England. Her books of poetry (both verse and prose poems), her memoir, and her collaborations were informed by both Indian and American poets. The content of her work speaks often to her sense of identity and her experience with exile, yet she can craft a poem like the following that feels like it could roll off any tongue. Don't we all experience "the periodic pleasure / of small happenings"? With its brief lines and feeling images, I'll let Meena Alexander's poem speak for itself.
Darling Coffee
The periodic pleasure
of small happenings
is upon us—
behind the stalls
at the farmer’s market
snow glinting in heaps,
a cardinal its chest
puffed out, bloodshod
above the piles of awnings,
passion’s proclivities;
you picking up a sweet potato
turning to me ‘This too?’—
query of tenderness
under the blown red wing.
Remember the brazen world?
Let’s find a room
with a window onto elms
strung with sunlight,
a cafe with polished cups,
darling coffee they call it,
may our bed be stoked
with fresh cut rosemary
and glinting thyme,
all herbs in due season
tucked under wild sheets:
fit for the conjugation of joy.
- Meena Alexander
From Atmospheric Embroidery
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