Yesterday Carrie Fountain took us down the highway with her poem , “El Camino Real 3” and then tagged Aimee Nezhukumatathil who writes, “I included the following poem of mine because I think it speaks to Carrie's poem about the waiting and anticipation of both human and, in this case-- animal, of waiting for some small bit of magic, of always being open and alive to at least the possibility of it happening in your life, no matter how strange or unexpected the source.” Here is her provocative poem.
FORTUNE-TELLING PARROT
(IDUKKI, INDIA)
By Aimee Nezhukumatathil
I will pick
a black card
of luck for you:
star, pinkmoon,
mirror, ostrich eye,
and jasmine bloom.
You may want
to ring my neck
with a tiny strand
of lantana if you
like what you see.
Or tear my red beak
in two angry pieces
like a pistachio.
My man covers
my cage at night
with a tattered
turquoise sari.
I sleep with one eye
open, just in case
a white cricket
creeps my way.
Five fun fac
ts about Aimee Nezhukumatathil*she born in Chicago, IL
*her mother is a Filipina and her father is South Indian
*she has a dachshund dog named Villanelle
*she received a 2009 Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts
*she is Associate Professor of English at State University of New York-Fredonia
Look for these selected poetry books by Nezhukumatathil:
*At the Drive-In Volcano (Tupelo Press, 2007)
*Miracle Fruit (Tupelo Press, 2003)
*a chapbook, Fishbone (2000)
Next up: Matthea Harvey
Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2010. All rights reserved.
Image credits:photo by Marion Ettlinger; http://www.aimeenez.net/page4.html; tagyoureitonline.com;captainstlucifer.wordpress.com/2007/08; blog.syracuse.com
Only two weeks left of this wonderful game. Wouldn't it be nice if we could play poetry tag forever? I hope we get to hear from some favorites like: Anna Grossnickle Hines, Betsy Franco, Eileen Spinelli, Helen Frost, Kathi Appelt, Georgia Heard, George Ella Lyon or Janet Wong to name a few. Maybe if I put their name out in the universe...a poem will appear.
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