In Excess

I was in excess of this order,
more than bones
I was arteries and veins
desire running through them
to stay for a little more time
on this solid earth

Like grass, half-submerged in water,
resembling something grass-like
on the moon;
it appeared to me in a dream
I wanted to sway with the wind,
taking the freshness in;
Sensing life as mere flesh,
waiting for the smell of grass
half -dipped in water,
happily fragrant

I was in excess of the order
that shortens women by half

Savita Singh is a political theorist and a feminist poet from Delhi. She writes in Hindi and English, and has three collections to her name, Apne Jaisa Jeevan (2001, Rajkamal Prakashan), Neend Thi Aur Raat Thi (2005, Rajkamal Prakashan), Swapna Samay (2013, Rajkamal Prakashan). She has a collection of fifty poems, Nayi Sadi Ke liye Pachas Kavitayen (2012, Vani Prakashan). Her work has been translated into French, a collection of assorted poems, Je Suis La Maison Des Etoiles (Dastaan, 2008). She co-edited an anthology in the world women genre, Seven Leaves, One Autumn (2011, Rajkamal Prakashan). Her poetry has been translated also into German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and Catalonian, among others. She has a collection of poems translated into Odia, Jeur rasta mora nijara (2013, Timepass Publication). Savita Singh was awarded the Hindi Academy Award (2017), Raza Foundation Award (2006), Mahadevi Varma Award (2017) and Eunice de Souza Award for poetry 9Languages) (2020). Her poems have appeared in national and international journals, widely. She works in the area of gender studies and has written on Feminist theories of state, economy and literature. She is a professor in the School of Gender and Development Studies, at the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi.