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Autumn 1986 • Vol. VIII No. 4 • Poetry |

Afternoon Ceremonies

The flatness of the earth beneath our feet
all of a sudden, the wind left behind
in the trees, in between the fingers;
and an afternoon monochrome light
which pushes the blind mind ahead of time.

In all this land
dream is lost like unending railway tracks.
How true that these hands appear
to meet again after months, like two strangers!

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Author of sixteen collections of poetry, Jayanta Mahapatra’s latest volume is titled Bare Face. He has read his poetry around the world and is widely anthologized. He edits the literary periodical Chandrabhaga. His recent work has appeared in the Sewanee Review.

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