Kids Corner

Poetry

Gatha:
A ‘Ballad’, A ‘Story-Poem’

JASPREET SINGH

 

 

 






Each time he sights a ship

passing into absence

Blood comes out of his nose

and his lips

recite Komagata Maru


Each time he assumes silence

some crew-like thing

rises from un-italicized

shores. Filling the land with

cast iron taste and smell


Small waves, saline fish

starry

drops of water

acquire a voice then

Of course unsinkable


Each time it is told

It feels like a story

at the right moment


In one ironic re-telling

a crisp chorus of 376

The vessel superbly navi-

gated by Wade Grant of the Musqueam

Indian Band:


We would have embraced

the ship passengers

much as we welcomed Europeans

We are impacted by the same racist

policies and we feel

the same pain

passed to generations




And you? Tell me your story

                           (for Rachel)



*   *   *   *   *

Jaspreet Singh is a Canadian novelist and poet, and the author of the novels Chef and Helium, both published by Bloomsbury.

May 9, 2017

 

Conversation about this article

Comment on "Gatha:
A ‘Ballad’, A ‘Story-Poem’"









To help us distinguish between comments submitted by individuals and those automatically entered by software robots, please complete the following.

Please note: your email address will not be shown on the site, this is for contact and follow-up purposes only. All information will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Sikhchic reserves the right to edit or remove content at any time.