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Eating Dirt

Eating Dirt

Meena Kandasamy

her famished tongue feasted on dreams
and she catered to its cravings—
          green mangoes clay cloying chalk
          citrus soap crusty coal raw rice
          crushed ice cubes crayons ash
          powdered glass pickled garlic
          salt sieved rain-scented soil

a son was born, he was fed
and he learnt to feed
soon he was caught eating mud
          a son taking after his mother
          a son inheriting her tongue

she tied her speechless moon to a millstone
and after some frantic spanking
she saw in his cloudy mouth
the truth of the three worlds—
sand everywhere, everything
turning to sand.

Note: This poem tells the childhood story of the Hindu mythical hero Krishna and his mother Yashoda. As a child, he was fond of eating mud and when he was chastised, he opened his mouth, and within it, she is said to have witnessed the three worlds and the secret of the entire universe. She is said to have taken this as a revelation of his divinity.

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Meena Kandasamy is a political columnist, translator, and the author of two collections of poetry: Touch and Ms. Militancy. She has performed at poetry festivals around the world and has been a fellow of the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program, Charles Wallace India Trust, and the Hong Kong Baptist University International Writers Workshop. Her first novel is The Gypsy Goddess (HarperCollins India).

Meena Kandasamy