Lotus-Eater Poem by Rashmi Menon

sweet dirt, liquid and luscious

(infested, as the flower is) ,

soft petals and succulent stalk

(pliable stalk, to be bent and twisted,

sucked dry) ,

newly sugared, gold-dust drizzler

(sugar-to be tasted and discarded) ,

hold me in your slow sway

(i'm in and out of you

and on to the next of you):

write me in and rub me out but not out of you

(misread, misled and misconceived little flower)

i am just what you were seeking,

sighting and

sighing

(i'm just a reflector,

the flecks of disgusted desire, but-

fragments of your vain, veined self)

p.s: apologies to Lord Tennyson