Ri-Ri’s Brushes

By Vatsala Radhakeesoon

On a faraway island,
all blue and green,
loosely tied to the colossal continents,
there lived an artist.

Her name was Ri-Ri
and in her pink pearls’ cave,
she hid a pair of brushes;
She often called them “peculiar”
but to the inhabitants they were just 
twin fan brushes glued together.

One night, three brown bats
lazing on the litchi trees
started to make fun of the painting tools;
They called them “ugly”, “grotesque”, “useless”
and threw  half-eaten fruits on  Ri-Ri’s windowsill.

The moon frowned,
The stars were startled,
Thunder tore the clouds,
The bats fidgeted on fragile branches.

Swirls of silvery, golden and  turquoise light
sparkled  around,
The fan brushes gracefully performed the circular dance,
They transformed into soft plumage of all white,
and  a confident beak all  yellow;
A pair of feet sang History to the night.

Amidst Ri-Ri’s garden,
stood a Dodo relishing the summer
of its native land,
Ri-Ri hugged it and in her local language
whispered to the bats,
“Samem mo ti sekre.”*

* Samem mo ti sekre (from Mauritian Kreol ) – That’s  my little secret.

Vatsala Radhakeesoon is an author/poet and artist from Mauritius. She has had numerous poetry books published and she is currently working on her flash fiction/short stories book. She considers poetry as her first love and visual art as a healer in all circumstances. Vatsala Radhakeesoon currently lives at Rose-Hill, Mauritius and is a freelance literary translator and an interview editor of Asian Signature journal.

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