The following poem by Imsanela Jamir from Mokukchung, Nagaland was selected as a commendable mention in Wingword Poetry Prize 2020
(For my grandmother and her grandmothers and her grandmother’s grandmothers.)
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The crow at your funeral
perched on a naked tree
Otsü* smiled- said
you paid a visit
You are the pots clanking
at night- said
you paid a visit
The first stone at the graveyard
The rumble among the bamboos
You who went and never came back
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Your tsüngkotepsü*-
stained and painted with
tigers, mithuns and heads
Your ardour, your children, your grandchildren
You walked barefooted to the capital
An alien gun bound on your back
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Otsü had
ten mouths to feed and lull
Empty ponds, dying fields- rape
Cicadas mocking her- and
her sully shawl
Now grandchildren asks her
Why women did not- and
Why women should go to war
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The leaf of life
Our ancestors plucked-
Plucked from the forest spirit
Ladder to heaven erected-
erected our ancestors
Plucked and ate clouds
This lust for life
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Otsü, Obu*
My name-
Your namesake
But-
Wrapped my tongue, I have
Shortened my name, I have
Shrank, diluted my being
Rammed my pot of milk
With stones
and offered it to them
But-
They know, they know
They know It all
All the letters from A to Z
Except what comes after Z
Ü*
This lust for life
This pregnant lady’s contractions
This naked child spread on my chest-
I welcome them all
This poem starts here
*Otsü- Ao Naga word for grandmother.
*Tsüngkotepsü- An Ao Naga shawl stained with plan juice, or embroidered with pictures of tigers,mithuns and heads they (warrior) killed.
*Obu- Ao Naga word for grandfather..
*Ü- The last word in Ao Naga alphabet