A Sonnet For Darkness

( For generations now, kids in Bengal have been told that there is an old woman inside the moon who is ceaselessly operating her spinning jenny—the charka. Some even say, she is the mother of the moon. However, everyone agrees that the black spots on the moon are basically testimonies to her existence.)

Only in darkness can you see
the very old woman who has a house in the moon.
Only in black can you heat
her spinning jenny making the sound...ghor...ghor...ghor
Only in sable can you trace
her spindles tearing threads into words.
Only in obsidian can you touch
the spelling of the shapes she knits onto the twilight-colored veil.

“Paji meye, ghor andhakar kore boshe achhish je boro?”
Crazy girl, what pleasure do you get from dark?
Don't you know it is
no longer the reign of the night?

“Ma, please switch off the lights.
How many times do I have to tell you—it hurts it hurts it hurts.”