Cheru

Cheru’s the allergic emperor
among the trees on the earth.
Its dark violet nuts are
rich source of itching energy.

Though a single drop of sap –
a hypocritical white in hue –
could create an itching ecstasy,
consequent crimson rashes
frightened me with forebodings.
Capsules complicated my condition.
My body bloated like a python.
My face transformed with
an awkward look.

Itching – I spent an anxious year.
Browsing – I read a remedy for
deadly diseases in the same sap.
Wounding and healing forces pass
through the same channel.
Whether it be destructive, or be
constructive, we decide.

*Cheru is a vernacular name for Indian mark nut tree. Its sap is highly allergic, toxic,
and causes severe itching and swelling. It is medicinal too for diseases like tumors.

First appeared in The Literary Hatchet.