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BANG BANG BOLIFLOWER

 

In the Wild West of the east

there are no cowboys anymore,

just Indians in-fighting

and horses that appear in the dark

from nowhere and lead you

nowhere.

 

The land is dry but yields

bright tangled flowers

soft yet defiant and solar powered—

 

no need to waste water

where the sun overflows

 

into every starved secret

that begs hard not to vanish

back to the caves of

gold and red betel nut mouths

 

spitting names not feathers

 

I hold a gun and they hold a bow,

or they hold a gun and I an arrow

 

or I a bow and gun

and they a gun and arrow

 

there is no crossfire

without a bomb.

 

© Sujatha Menon 2022

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