Bhisham Bherwani

Seesaw
December 26, 2021 Bherwani Bhisham

SEESAW

from “The Playground Sonnets”

 

The sun was overhead. The playground steamed.
The grass was worn out where we tapped our feet,
each strike a plosive followed by a dust-burst
through which like phoenixes we toiled emerging.

Our breathing quickened. Thrilled, we rose and fell,
by turns sharing roles of load and effort,
allied with a single purpose—pleasure—nearly free,
held captive by a beam and fulcrum apparatus.

Pulsing with each thump we hammered time
to be subject to a different hammering
of schools and special schools, tutors and therapists,
as gated clubhouse gave way to a city.

Where once we strayed not far from equilibrium
I dismounted alone, I feel, and left you there.

Bhisham Bherwani is the author of three poetry books. His essays have appeared in The American Poetry Review, The American Reader, Pleiades, Rain Taxi, The Yale Review, and other places. He was educated at Cornell University and New York University. He lives in New York City.