For the Jamun Tree (in an All-Girls Boarding School) at the Edge of the Thar Desert

In your fruit we find 
a lover’s tart kiss, magenta lipstick
as we gather you by the fistfuls 
conspiring dreams beyond 
glass studded boundary walls
a doctor’s white coat, a poet’s fountain pen

In your shade we offer morning prayers
to Saraswati, the goddess of learning
daya kar daan vidya ka, hamein parmatma dena 
it is from Her mercy that we receive this knowledge 
of tiny seeds housed below our bellies 
and how we must guard them zealously 
by crossing our legs. Hungry & young 
we hold your fruit in our palms 
salty with sweat, our lips parched 
from desert dust that water doesn’t quench
nibbling on your flesh, we spit out seeds 
into sand from which nothing sprouts 

*Jamun-Java plum/Indian blackberry; a sweet yet tart fruit that leaves a purple stain when eaten

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Shikha Malaviya (www.shikhamalaviya.com) is a South Asian-American poet and writer. She is co-founder of The (Great) Indian Poetry Collective, a mentorship model press publishing powerful voices from India & the Indian diaspora. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and featured in PLUME, Prairie Schooner & other fine publications. Shikha was selected as Poet Laureate of San Ramon, California, 2016. Her book of poems is Geography of Tongues.