Jagari Mukherjee’s most recent poem to appear here was “Iced Tea” (April 2018).

A Question to Myself
By Jagari Mukherjee

Do I want to have a child?
I envy the pomegranate fertile
With its million seeds full of
The juice of life.
Do I want to have a child?
I envy old people, perhaps senile—
But with their grandchildren they play
And forget all cares and strife.
Do I want to have a child?
I envy the woman who supports the shops textile—
Out buying clothes for her kids
As their father gently watches his wife.
So, do I want to have a child?
Do I want you to plant trees in me, lush and wild?