Joy of Spring--By Kala Ramesh--India

Joy of Spring
a sutra* written on mother's day

the bag of water
bursts within me
I am drenched

every two minutes
the pain so excruciating
a labour

white gloved hands
surround me . . . with each
gasp a grasping breath

cervical dilation
I sense a bundle press
for azadi

at corridor's end
my clenched fists release
the joy of spring birth

*sutra means thread in Sanskrit
*azadi - freedom

Previously published--Bottle Rockets # 28, February 2013

Kala Ramesh writes haiku, tanka, senryu, haibun and renku. She has over 1200 verses published in various reputed journals all over the world. As external faculty member of the Symbiosis International University, Kala conducts a 60-hour haiku module for undergraduates. Kala has initiated what she calls the "HaikuWALL India" project, where she gets school children and college students to paint haiku on walls. Kala is also the Modern Haiku Editor for Under the Basho & the Editor of “Youth Corner” for Cattails, a journal from United Haiku & Tanka Society.