Two Poems By Mukund Gnanadesikan

Asylum
  
Don’t send me back to the land I loved
Where blood now rains from skies above
The earth upon which I was born
Is filled with corpses that I mourn 
My poor heart breaks for those who stay
For every tortured soul I pray
  
But there is nothing I can do
As I sit here in front of you
Awaiting words from men of law
Whose eyes have not seen what mine saw
I do not ask for mercy mild
But safety for my wife and child
  
The cities here are dark and foreign
Yet I am safe, my dreams are soaring
Will you return me to my war,
The bodies piled up score by score
Or let me stroll so strong and free
Across the fields of liberty? 

Street Jams

i.
Corner disc jockey
Scratches and sways, head nodding
Old sneakers salsa
ii.
Temporary break
From predictable fatigue
Of clay-stained brown hands 
iii.
Fingers never tire
Of syncopated rhythms
That rhyme with laughter
iv.
Motley crowd gathers
Clapping palms praise the sunset
Hips orbit shadows
v.
Ivory smiles flash
Old ladies shake maracas
The hot air hisses
vi.
Everyone retreats
To dinner of leftovers
On meager dirt floors.
vii.
Morning sun wipes clean
Dulcet taste of prior days
Tomorrow we work. 

Mukund Gnanadesikan’s poems have been published in Ayaskala, The Bangalore Review, The Cape Rock, Cathexis Northwest, Meniscus Literary Journal, New Verse News, Saccharine Poetry, Dreams Walking, and Praxis, among others. His debut novel, Errors of Omission, was released in November 2020 by Adelaide Books.