THE FOLLOWING POEM BY HEMA NAYAK FROM ANKOLA WON THE THIRD PRIZE IN WINGWORD POETRY PRIZE 2023.
1
These women talk about miscarriages
sitting in the backyard
cleaning and dressing my favorite prawns
"I had to rip my yoni off
to take out the remains of my first child"
I see the remains lying in front of me
heads, eyes, tails, flesh, and pieces
I will not eat them again
Is this how I have food allergies?
2
I ask this woman whose name
translates into Mother of tiger,
"Why is this neighbor building a mansion
on our compound walls?"
She says,
"He wants to be buried
under our patience; Remind me to get
generous amount of salt, soot and ice cubes
to dress him on the day he dies."
And, we wonder
why fresh ghosts haunt us.
3
Here is my childhood toy hen
Dress it; Press it,
it lays painted plastic eggs
I feel like that proud hen
with my several daughters –
Elis gliding out of my entertaining nest
I can neither chew nor swallow
but can only hatch my motherly boredom
here in this game of eggs
4
Clear water, skinny dip, precious stone
Then I step on the sharp edges
of rock oyster
Blood red water, salty skin, prickling stone
Woman with an exotic Kannada accent
appears and dresses the open wound
on my foot stuffing fried red-hot chillies
"What are you doing?"
"Relieving your pain with pain
like removing a thorn with a thorn"
"No, you are layering my pain with pain"
And, we continue to mumble as the warp
of our realities keeps on wrapping itself.
About the poet:
Hema Nayak is a poet who grew up in Karnataka, currently based in Meghalaya for work.
Her poems in Kannada and English have been shortlisted and longlisted respectively for TOTO Award in Creative Writing.
She is the author of 'Novigoo ide chalane', a poetry collection in Kannada. Three of her poems have been published in 'PEACOCKS IN A DREAM: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY INDIAN ENGLISH VERSE'.