Poetry 2014 Longlist, Amrit Sinha

THAT MAN, DARK AND UGLY

that man
dark and ugly
no, don't go near
a devil he is, no less
perhaps, a demon from hell
yes, I know, we know

look, how savagely
he drinks those dark murky mud
quenching his thirst
his fingers dipping into the craters
scratching the potholes
as water bleeds out
through the veins of darkened terrain
his tongue licks
contented

but no, he' ain't alone
that man, dark and ugly, I told you about
a dog, stands beside, admiring the beast
in its act, so brazenly inhuman
like a monster
he immerses his face
in the abandoned liquid

we look no more
we look no more
at that grimy monster
that man
dark and ugly