Observing my fast
Religiously
On Saraswati Puja day
A reading-writing fast
Phone off, Computer off
I notice things
I otherwise do not
Senses seem heightened
Birdsong sounds clearer
Almost electric in its intensity
I see the different shapes of leaves
The differing shades of green
On the same tree
A pre-literate society
Must have been like this
Immersed in nature
Without the mediation of words
My fast is not total though:
Words that my eyes would gloss over
Unseeingly
They lock on to
And devour
Indane, Prestige, Parryware
I cannot
Not read
Easier to fast physically
Than mentally:
After all
I have been nibbling
At the edges
Of this poem
All of yesterday