Old Time Love Song Magic
2
My lord,
your eye
is a fresh blue river
a balance of soft grass —
to your nearest friends luck
to the enemy ruin
unseen through my woman's
body it races.
Meter: Puspitagra
Flowering Branch Tip
18
What rival warlords
beneath the orbiting moon & sun
have you not deposed?
Deva, I think you
the earth's finest warrior.
You circled my body
seized the black ropes of my hair
slipped the blouse off
and clasped my hips freely
your hand now approaches the
fragrant zone.
Meter: Sardula-vikriditam
Tiger's Play
20
Black swollen clouds
drench the far
forests with rain.
Scarlet kadamba petals toss on the storm.
In the foothills peacocks dance
they make love and none of it
touches me.
It's when the lighting
exposes an amorous flash
bright legs and arms
like a rival —
in grief
lonely grief
I am drenched.
Meter: Sardula-vikriditam
Tiger's Play
26
Monsoon season
the Rainbow Girl rises
her heart childlike
shifting about
one hue for another
she's a lute with no string
a song that changes
she dares you
to catch her.
Meter: Arya
Noble Lady
31
Shamelessly orange like a
parrot's beak,
arousing with a lover's
touch the clustered
lotus buds,
I praise this
great wheel the sun
Rising
it is an
earring for
the Lady of the East.
Meter: Arya
Noble Lady
______________________________
Vidya
Old Time Love Song Magic
translated from the Sanskrit by Andrew Schelling
Circumference Books, 2025
