Sree Sen

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Pfeilstörche

the word for a white stork
struck with an African arrow
drawing blood from a rotting wound
as it flies to its German home. i sit beside the window

with this new information;
a man passing by speaks in Bengali on his phone
(for a moment it felt like i belonged)
i wonder who it was on the other side –

is he talking to a lover
or with his octogenarian nani
squinting through her cataract? he’s gone.
i make fresh coffee with roasted Kenyan beans

from O’Connell supermarket
of polite nods at safe distances vs.
probing questions from Pari kaku who sold me
instant coffee at the store in my old neighbourhood;

back at my window
dusty feet on cracked tar
497 miles towards home on a pastel Bengal road
teeth stained with raw tobacco & melting gur

human chain of visible spines
a class forgotten in a hurry
Pari kaku stares at me, unblinking, a dagger
between muscle & bone

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SREE SEN is from Mumbai, India. She relocated to Ireland in 2019 to pursue MA in Creative Writing, University College Dublin. Her works have been published by Poetry Ireland Review, Crossways, Headstuff. Sree is currently working on a poetry collection.