Lost and Found, in Thought

Indran Amirthanayagam

Royal Hatter
​- for Mervyn

​Guardian of old decency, courtesy, and right action,
you sniff at my justifications, constant dancing
from one set of arms to the next, arguments
for the African compound, wives multiplied. Yet,
you have in a more discreet manner
fallen in love with half of Port of Spain and
various poets of the New York school, or have
I misunderstood, failed to learn the truth
from the Guardian, rather Master, of the Hat?
​

* * *
​

In Court with the Stars

The program installed this time,
giving me the green thumb's sign
 
to roll the type, unfold my stool
and sit for hours on the artificial grass,
 
to gaze at the showering digits
and gigabytes while in the hotel
 
my daughter watches young
competitors dancing with the stars
 
and my son reads the Republic
trying to fathom Plato's theorem,
 
his argument against image makers,
excluding them from citizenship.
 
                                        January 6, 2016
Indran Amirthanayagam, a former resident of State Street, Brooklyn, writes poetry in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Haitian Creole. His first book The Elephants of Reckoning won the 1994 Paterson Prize in the United States.  His latest books include Uncivil War and Aller-Retour Au Bord de la Mer. A new collection in Spanish, Ventana Azul, will be published in January in Mexico. Amirthanayagam was born in Sri Lanka. He is now an American diplomat based currently in Port au Prince, Haiti.
For  more poetries go to http://indranamirthanayagam.blogspot.com