Ode to Richmond Hill by Rajiv Mohabir

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend August 29, 2016   Ode to Richmond Hill   Rajiv Mohabir

then the drunk teen scatters a cascade of copper on cement, the old Uncle yells, eyes silver eyes in disbelief, Pick up yuh paisa, na man! no worry on this slate day youths dem speak no Hindi to know paisa means money, a taxi speeds  by blaring chutney remix Kaise Bani and you remember your Aji dropping her rum at Aunty’s party to jump up and your mother’s awkward Hindi— you bit your fingers with each roti she rolled, each mantra she taught you floods your throat in front of this puja shop on 127th and Liberty front strung with plastic marigolds, a replica strung of polypropylene like you are now and not like long time when Par-Aja came from India, you are a forgery that will one day burn not on a pyre but in an incinerator, not on a riverbank, but in a crematorium, your prayers in Hindi accented in English alveolars neither devas nor prophets recognize as supplication but on Liberty Avenue in the waft of a spliff drag, and sandalwood a coolie Uncle in a kurta mouths Marley as you walk by you start to sing praise to Queens where you are Chandra’s son or so and so’s buddy ke pickni, where you wipe oil from doubles on your jeans and cuss up the car that backs into stacked crates of strawberries, to where you return after three years and Richmond Hill opens its coolie arms pulls you close and in your ear whispers dis time na long time.            Copyright © 2016 Rajiv Mohabir. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “Richmond Hill is a vibrant community of Indo-Caribbean people who make up a large immigrant group in New York City. I have lived and worked in the area multiple times in my life and consider it one of my homes. This poem is in praise of its syncretisms, its people, and its poets like Sundar Popo who wrote the chutney music classic Kaise Bani.” —Rajiv Mohabir   Rajiv Mohabir is the author of The Taxidermist’s Cut (Four Way Books 2016). He teaches at the University of Hawai‘i and lives in Honolulu.   Poetry by Mohabir   The Taxidermist’s Cut (Four Way Books, 2016)  "You Tell Us What to Do" by Faiz Ahmed Faiz "Daughter-Mother-Maya-Seeta" by Reetika Vazirani "Caribbean Marsh" by Muna Lee Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038