Brief moments of light
We walked by that lake each evening, within an inch of holding hands.
Tiny firefish rushed to water’s edge to taste the aftermath of our feet. Vagrant
water hyacinth and lonely snakebirds listened as we talked and talked.
Twilight gleamed gold in the arched skyline, maroon revolutions rippled
in the future. We spun out reams of immaculate nights, glorious silken mornings,
bales of delicate muslin longings. We were not young, were we?
We were wily mermaids, valiant Siberian cranes crossing continents,
jumpy pearlspot fish frolicking where the water was cold and frothy.
Yodelling frogs readied for night’s chorus and dusky kingfishers
waited for a final kill. We were brave herons living on tiny beakfuls
of hope grabbed from deep. We walked graceful, wild, and free
and the waters receded, knowing our loss.
Anuradha Vijayakrishnan is an Indian writer living in UAE. Her work has appeared in Kenyon Review, Magma, CVV2, The Madras Courier and Punch Drunk Press. Her debut poetry collection, The Who-am-I Bird, was published in 2018 (Bombaykala Press).