The Turtle Shrine Near Chittagong Poem by Naomi Shihab Nye
The Turtle Shrine Near Chittagong
Humps of shell emerge from dark water.
Believers toss hunks of bread,
hoping the fat reptilian heads
will loom forth from the murk
and eat. Meaning: you have been
heard.
I stood, breathing the stench of mud
and rotten dough, and could not feel
encouraged. Climbed the pilgrim hill
where prayers in tissue radiant tubes
were looped to a tree. Caught in
their light, a hope washed over me
small as the hope of stumbling feet
but did not hold long enough
to get me down.
Rickshas crowded the field,
announced by tinny bells.
The friend beside me, whose bread
floated and bobbed,
grew grim. They’re full, I told him.
But they always eat mine.
That night I told the man I love most
he came from hell. It was also
his birthday. We gulped lobster
over a white tablecloth in a country
where waves erase whole villages, annually,
and don’t even make our front page.
Waiters forded the lulling currents
of heat. Later, my mosquito net
had holes.
All night, I was pitching something,
crumbs or crusts, into that bottomless pool
where the spaces between our worlds take root.
He would forgive me tomorrow.
But I wanted a mouth to rise up
from the dark, a hand,
any declarable body part, to swallow
or say, This is water, that is land.
Most powerfully said, loveliest worded. Impressive poem and profound poem. This is a thought-provoking poem, Most deserving The Modern Poem Of The Day. CONGRATULATIIONS, dear great Poetess! God's Blessings in Abundance for you and your beloved family.
the poems title and " Climbed the pilgrim hill where prayers in tissue radiant tubes were looped to a tree" - this line brought me to my city's Baizid Area where the Baizid Bostami shrine and in the mazar pond the old turtles living with believers activities are same as this poetic description.... but I am not sure about this.... whatever wonderful poem......
A tale of blind faith of the believers into existence of mysterious happenings. Well deserved modern poem of the day.
Bottomless hearts between and beneath the shadows. We say what we say and the words slide over the surface tension of meaning. If only we knew what meaning meant or will... and what gestures connect us..
" He would forgive me tomorrow" ! Thanks for sharing this poem with us.
That night I told the man I love most he came from. It was also his birthday. We gulped lobster over a white tablecloth in a country where waves erase whole villages, imagination at its most. tony
Congratulations on having it chosen as poem of the day. A very thought provoking poem.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/10/2024 5:42:00 PM # 1.0.0.1119
All night, I was pitching something, crumbs or crusts, into that bottomless pool where the spaces between our worlds take root....... ine expression.Beautiful poem. Congratulations for being chosen this poem as the modern poem of the POD.