Mourning Kanjikaa
The first night:
flour
is spilt
on the floor
Perhaps she’ll come
She will come –
She will come and leave a footprint
Perhaps we’ll sleep
We will sleep –
We will sleep all through our mourning
Perhaps she’ll see
She will see –
She will never see us again
Perhaps we’ll tear
We will tear
We will tear out our hair
Perhaps she’ll stop
She will stop
She will stop halfway
Perhaps we’ll forget
We will forget
We will forget ourselves in grief
This poem was discussed in the workshop and then Gagan Gill made some very helpful comments on Sarah Maguire’s final version.
Lamenting
The first night
Dry flour is scattered
on the ground
She'll come
she'll come
leave her footprint
and go
We'll sleep
we'll sleep
though mourning we'll sleep
She'll see
She'll see
she'll see us no more
We'll pluck
we'll pluck
at dawn we'll pluck our hair
She'll stop
she'll stop
in midway she'll stop
We'll forget
we'll forget
in this very grief we'll forget