Poetry of Arvind Krishna Mehrotra

i wish you had asked me earlier
the paintings have been bought
by a broken mirror
but i think i can lead you
to a crack in the wall
i have a skeleton too
its full of butterflies
who at dawn will carry away
the crown
i have also a wheelchair to show you
it belonged to my uncle
and one day the hook
that hangs from the sky
touched him. if you open the cupboard
you will see his memory
on the upper shelf and two books
now yours
ruskin's lectures on art
and a short history of english literature by legouis.

From Oxford's Ten Twentieth Century Indian Poets
Pen Drawing by Amitabh Mitra