THE UNDERWATER MOTHERS’ CHOIR
by S. Niroshini

they                          meet                   at night

    past                 the   edge                          of                 the lagoon

swamps                  of                           mangroves           and                                   cormorants

babies               blue-bundled         against                          silver

                         flesh                       of   hip

                             wrapped            in  seagrass             on ribboned                                 backs

when                they sing                salted breath               moves

                         up                          from  their           toes   pelvis            and indigo               sternum

  fills                          them              with                     so                                  much                        pleasure

like                   pineapple                at the beach       and sea                radish

    buttered        squid                      on sun                glossed                   afternoons

one                    mother                   purses              her lips in            a lullaby

     feels                her breath

                                                        feather              her throat

                         it is safer                 to sing                near these                   islands

          when           you                          have              no                     memory

                                                                                of                             sound

  with                 no                        memory of              sound

                                                                             just        dream    remnant               there is no           way

you                  will                          recall                  the                     effort                      of the waiter’s       silence

S. Niroshini received third place in the Poetry London Prize 2020 and her poetry pamphlet Darling Girl was published in 2021. Born in Sri Lanka, she was educated in Colombo, Melbourne and Oxford, studying history, law and languages. @niroshinisoma