by Jerin Anne Jacob
Ode to the Hajimalang
Braving all odds, we took on
the arduous eastern side trek
Citadel
Sonemachi
Panchi Pir
Hajimalang
atop mount Malanggad
dazed with thrill, intoxicated with the sublime
eerily crawling up my numb senses in folk Urdu,
the enigmatic, wet host of the mighty, daunting dargah
snatched away my doubts with scale sharp raindrops
bottoms-up slapping my face, carving wonder and might
into the pale pores of my petty skincoat
at that hairline criss-cross passway junction up on the mount,
crawling on fours to reach the other side in one…
if you had dared to kiss me,
Oh Fear,
you would have tasted the elixir of
sheer current-like excitement
on my lips,
and fled.
—
Hajimalang: dargah of a Sufi saint
Citadel, Sonemachi, Panchi Pir: different levels of plateaus that lead up to the Hajimalang
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jerin Anne Jacob is a poet, educator, researcher and social entrepreneur. A firm believer in writing-based and art driven activism, she uses poetry and storytelling as a means to propagate social change. Her articles and poems have been published in multiple literary journals and poetry platforms.