By Saranyan BV
THE HIDE-OUT IN MY BOTANY BOOK
Oh! You would not believe
For a while I thought Professor Livingstone fooled me.
He taught us botany, that tamarind is a leguminous species
With small little leaves and a central nerve.
Oh! You wouldn’t…
For a while I believed when I read somewhere all leguminous are like spinach*,
Good protein, sound for body and health,
No small leaves, no central nerve.
Oh! You wouldn’t…
When I referred back to my old text
That the Professor used for Botany, the book had holes,
Smelt ancient, a silver fish or two crawled to shy away from light.
Oh! You wouldn’t…
The silver fishes ate the portions of the book
Which spoke about the species Tamarindus Indica
And the family to which it belonged.
Oh! You wouldn’t believe my dear Professor,
The tamarind trees belong to the leguminous after all.
I tried to hide my head in a borehole
Dug by silver fishes in the pages containing work on Phytomorphology*.
* http://www.dietamediterranica.pt/?q=en/node/240
*The study of external structures of plants
Saranyan BV is poet and short-story writer, now based out of Bangalore. He came into the realm of literature by mistake, but he loves being there. His works have been published in many Indian and Asian journals. He loves the works of Raymond Carver.
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