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Gansuthi | Aug 24 2002

I spied a bokhali, gentle as a gansuthi
In the produce aisle.
Simply by the way she knonsayed
The collards, I knew she did not khar.

Fool that I am, I winked.
She, believing I was onsaying,
Mokhrobed me and snorted.

Do I khale?
Yes, I khale.
Each night I gobran, issuing
Zogno-like nonsense.

People, I have gobrayed
And am khanti. In my own bed
— my own bed! —
I asusu.

And all because of a bokhali,
Gentle as a gansuthi.

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The above poem was inspired, if that is the word, by Gail Armstrong’s Call me irresistible…. If you know what’s good for you, you will read Gail’s piece before turning to the lexicon below.

*

asusu: to feel unknown and uneasy in a new place
bokhali: a woman who carries a child on her back
gansuthi: the first grown feather of a bird’s wing
gobran: to shout in one’s sleep
gobray: to fall in a well unknowingly
khale: to feel partly bitter
khanti: to be wounded without bleeding
khar: to smell like urine or raw fish
khonsay: to pick up an object with care, as it is rare or scarce
mokhrob: to express anger by a sidelong glance
onsay: to pretend to love
zogno: the sound produced by a mixing of mud and water if you thrust your hand into a crab’s hole