A Scorpion In The Zero's Garden by Kushal Poddar

Image | Paul Groom Photography Bristol

A Scorpion In The Zero's Garden

I never thought about zero,

perhaps because I lived in it.

One Zen master once told me -

when you stop thinking about 

something you already have it.

You may not have it, 

but the longing has ebbed. 

The infinitesimal space left 

is near to the fullest, to the infinity.

I garden rocks. Today a scorpion 

flashes its anthracite exoskeleton 

in the zero's garden, not mine,

and I wouldn't have known even 

if I owned that plot. I tell my daughter,

"Now on, check your shoes before 

wearing." She makes it a religion.

In the zero's garden, there always 

is a scorpion until we find 

an almost zero in its possibility.

© Kushal Poddar

Kushal Poddar

Kushal Poddar has authored ten books, the latest being A White Can For The Blind Lane, and his works have been translated into twelve languages. He is a co-editor for Outlook Magazine and the editor of Words Surfacing. He does illustrations and sketches for various magazines.

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