Subitha Baghirathan
Ghazal: the first sign of Spring Verdant perfume received like treasure.Snap decision to carry their scooters to the school gate for 3 pm. Faces lift out of zipped-up collars and soft scarves.Two daughters’ ecstasy trailing a kite’s tail as they scoot down the hill. Ideas for new pursuits blink awake, stretch for the sun.The filigree simplicity of a dinner-time picnic received like treasure. Ghazal: Glastonbury Village and Tor Feast for my eyes and nosePatchouli-scented high street, a candy cane scene.The dull mist propagating my apathySent fleeing by the wind-naginis on the Tor. An abundance of people-watchingVelvet cloaks, flower crowns, a rainbow-striped staff.The distant but distinct horizonSlices through my discontent with the weekly routine. Tempted by deflated hot air balloons now sold as harem pants;The lure of shops with crystal pendants pledging to cleanse, cure, catalyse.The ascent of the Tor, my feet on this earthBury my fugue-like melancholy. * A nagini is the female form of a naga: a Sanskrit word for a mythological half human, half serpent being. They appear in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain mythology. Naginis and nagas are regarded as having protective, positive qualities.
Subitha is of Sri Lankan heritage, living in Bristol, England since 1999. Her memoir of her time in Saudi Arabia with her family- The Colours of Sand- was published in 2012 by Bristol independent publisher, Tangent Books. She features in Lyrically Justified vol. 3 (2019), an anthology of poems by Bristol-based Poets of Colour. Other poems were published on-line in 2020 by Poetry Space, The Great Margins and Buddhist Poetry Review. Motherhood; her Buddhist faith; race and gender equality activism- all inspire her poetry.
Subitha is a Mitra (friend) of the Triratna Buddhist Centre in Bristol.