Shrouded Figure
of a human, wrapped in
opaque loin-cloth
lay
at a distant rocky plain;
on its side -
white.
Contours: up from ground – (down-up,
up-flat-) down-
up
then a mermaid tail with shaved
end, fin bent –
down,
carving time out of motionless
still-conscious
flow
trumping dark void in footsteps
of twinkling
stars
consciousness wrestling loss time,
laying on
side
was but a flicker in the eons
of postures
flexed
like decomposing mummy
is but a husk –
white
wrapped contour of a figure
enmeshed stock
black.
Kamalendu Nath and his wife of forty years reside in a New Hampshire woodland. His selected poems have appeared in The 2008 Poets’ Guide to New Hampshire; the Twisted Tongue Magazine (7th issue) and in the Barfing Frog (August 2007). The author is an emeritus professor (Long Island University, NY) with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Indiana University (1969).