Last English Lesson

by Praniti Gulyani aged 14

(Dedicated to Sanya Taneja Maam’s English classes)

the sun sets into a blur of dictionaries
the wilted winds blow on the herbs
and somewhere,
holding onto the fragile ends
of a passing cloud
a soft, slow syllable

tilting horizontally
a last evening cloud
dipping into the greenness of vast seas
every ripple carving, crossing
and we, as sailors, see the sky
through a cookie cutter
and the multitude of shapes it takes
through a cookie cutter

the moon rises in a scatter of conversation
globe trotting,
star counting, dream sewing
disentangling the moon from cloud shine
and then slicing the moon –
and tossing it as well
then plucking strings of stars
to stitch them all together

looking above the dictionary –
to find a synonym for “tear battles”
looking beneath the dictionary–
to find a synonym for “sob stifling”
putting up the facade of a smile

when the subject
agrees with the verb
fingers stopping on ‘abstract nouns’
cramming all dreams
into the spaces between verses
clustering all conversation

tilting vertically
a last summer cloud
drenching its wispy ends in starlit waters
yet, brushing off the stars

and clinging to the thread-like ends
of fragile clouds –
one last spring syllable

looking between dictionary pages
a synonym for ‘memory’ –
remembrance
a synonym for ‘amazing’ –
astonishing
a synonym for ‘imprint’ –
impact

2 Responses to “Last English Lesson”

  • Roger Stevens

    Wow. Excellent poems, Praniti. I’d have liked you in my class back when I was a teacher.

    Reply
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