Walking with Amma
By Kavita Ratna
Walking with amma
I learn to slow down,
take a measured
step,
pause,
step,
pause.
Under a tree
an old
tyre-swings
and children
cook leaves
on three stone-stoves,
while a baby
gurgles at the
sky.
I notice
the rice flour
rangolis with
their perfect strokes,
smudged here and there
by careless feet,
achingly beautiful
in the
beginnings of their
erasure,
Carving time
for a deep breath in-out
I become
aware of
minute gradients
on the path,
every obstacle
that needs to be
gauged
ahead of time.
To surmount
in thought,
before action.
Clinging on to railings,
walking up the
ramps,
every step a
destination,
moving as one,
I feel the soft strength
of the hand in mine.
I no longer know
where
one ends
and the other
begins.
Kavita Ratna is a children's rights activist, poet and a theatre enthusiast. 'Sea Glass' and 'Every peck a rainbow' are her two poetry collections, both published by Red River. Her poems have appeared in The Kali Project: Invoking the Goddess within, Presence, Asahi Shimbun, Under the Basho, Muse India, The Wise Owl, haikuKATHA, Haiku in Action, the Mamba -Journal of Africa Haiku Network, Black and white haiga, the Cold Moon Journal, Five Fleas Itchy poetry, the Haiku Dialogue, Stardust Haiku, LEAF (Journal of The Daily Haiku), and several others. She was on the Haiku panel at the Glass House Poetry Festival, Bangalore, 2024 and the Mysore Literature Festival, 2024. She is also a Pushcart Prize nominee, 2023 and a Touchstone Award nominee, 2024.