The Woman of Kutch The woman of Kutch, Living in grasslands Favored by raj And ibis, flees The earthquake and Monsoon that leveled The Gujarat Three or four Thousand years ago. For this occasion She wears a dress Embroidered in red And yellow cotton An aba covers The sakral which Begins the stem Of a sunflower rising To a shower Of light, all in Mirrors, surrounded By grassy fields. She carries three Steel pots of water On her head and With her left arm She caresses another. With her right arm She shields her eyes Against the sun, Into which she races. ** At the Track She crosses her legs, this girl of twelve, her hat A crown, brim bouncing in a breeze. She reads Her book, maybe–maybe not–lost in thought Or reverie, a boy…
“The Woman of Kutch,” Poetry by Jonathan Lloyd
