Satyagraha, Las Cruces, for Nicanor Parra

Satyagraha, Las Cruces

Only connect, my father said.
In Las Cruces drinking tea

with Nicanor, ninety eight
and preparing his address

for the Cervantes, I remind
him of his poem from Oxford

“Preguntas a la hora del té.”
This time vagaries of bus

departures from Santiago
and energy spent dreaming

of the visit led to a hastened
tea shortly after lunch,

tongue-tied, pauses
in the conversation filled

eventually with two key
phrases, do you know them,

Indran, soma, satyagraha?
Most important to get up

to the door and say
goodbye well, good luck,

raise both hands together,
clench palms and wave,

shouting, until the next time,
seated on the doorstep,

not willing to move,
drinking the immortal

energy of soma in tea,
satyagraha in las Cruces.

Indran Amirthanayagam, April 13, c) 2012