Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Arvind Krishna Mehrotra

Two Lakes

Two Lakes

Two Lakes

Lakes do not happen
Only in geography.
I know one with a Japanese garden
And a limited zoo; it is surrounded
By a red road and is completely
Artificial. Among its reflections
Are isolated trucks, fragrant locomotives, and a giant
Steel works.

The second lake lies
At the foot of a hill and is clean
To the point of invisibility. On one side
Is the club where dead Englishmen sit
Down on tigers and play bridge; little
Balls of air drift through their moustached faces.
In the billiard-room the table is still
Intact, while the stained kitchen-knife
Has appeared in the region’s
Folklore.
Close

Two Lakes

Lakes do not happen
Only in geography.
I know one with a Japanese garden
And a limited zoo; it is surrounded
By a red road and is completely
Artificial. Among its reflections
Are isolated trucks, fragrant locomotives, and a giant
Steel works.

The second lake lies
At the foot of a hill and is clean
To the point of invisibility. On one side
Is the club where dead Englishmen sit
Down on tigers and play bridge; little
Balls of air drift through their moustached faces.
In the billiard-room the table is still
Intact, while the stained kitchen-knife
Has appeared in the region’s
Folklore.

Two Lakes

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère