Space Cake Oddity by Satya Dash
It is not a moment of madness
when I take the plunge
Neither is it a fragment of time
carefully wrought in patience and resolve
It is more a breath caught on a slip of the wind
in the new year eve’s restorative air
that emerges in the brilliance of a sigh
So I take a few bites and the sighs turn to heaves
wave after wave of sweet terror
zenith after zenith
of a giant wheel in epicurean sway
relentless cradling taking away my years
The moles and warts of my face turn into moons and comets
my face a galaxy of all things that want to stay and swirl
My diaphanous skin longs for a witness
I feel like an experiment in pain
And joy – a raw breasted carcass
lying just around the corner
enticing the jackal within
in a bone stirring oscillation from
anticipation to exhilaration
When I return from the excursion
it is a new year all right
The body scents and notions
still a familiar sweaty and all, yeah, cool
My friends ask me why I did it
The question winds me up
Tell me – when you’re eating
do you ever think about
why you were hungry?

____________________________________________________________
Satya Dash‘s recent poems have been published or are forthcoming in Passages North, The Magnolia Review, Prelude, Porridge, The Florida Review. He has been a cricket commentator, dabbled with short fiction and has a degree in electronics from BITS Goa. He lives in Bangalore, India and recites his poetry in the city’s cafes.
Twitter Handle: https://twitter.com/satya043

