we have given up weaving.

As it is, water is too scarce
to farm cloth
and in this laissez-faire,
that art of our fingers
doesn’t count anymore.

But yes, our digits are nimble
and time is still scant 
for we are occupied other ways.
Through the traction 
of our nights and days

we now steadily whet 
the blade of language,
hone its edge to prepare it
for the shock and welcome 
of blood.

The day we are done
we will slit
your hubris with our tongues —
quite painlessly
to ourselves. 

…
Basudhara Roy teaches English at Karim City College affiliated to Kolha University, Chaibasa. Drawn to themes of gender and ecology, her four published books include a monograph and three poetry collections, the latest being Inhabiting. She loves, rebels, writes and reviews from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India.